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COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



11. Timothy 2: 15 

A Course of Study- 
In Personal Work 



HOWARD W. POPE 



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United Society of Christian Endeavor 
Boston and Chicago 



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Copyrighted, 1910, by the 
United Society of Christian Endeavor 



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This book is dedicated to my dear 
wife, who has encouraged and helped 
me in all the Christian work I have 
ever done. 

While I have travelled up and 
down the land, seeking to save the 
lost, she has patiently ** stayed by 
the stuffy^ and kept the hearthstone 
warm for my coming. 

When we reach heaven, if it be 
found that there are two stars in my 
crown, she shall have one of them. 



Contents 

Introduction 

I. Personal Evangelism: Who 
Should Do It, and Why 

II. How Should We Prepare? . 

III. How TO Open Religious Conver- 
sation .... 



II 
30 

51 

67 



IV. How TO Use the Bible . 

V. How TO Use the Bible (Continued) 85 

VI. Soul-Winning by Letters and 

Literature . . . .104 

VIL How TO Bring to Decision — In- 
struction OF Converts — Impor- 
tance OF Joining the Church . 119 



Introduction 

The Christian Endeavor movement began in 
a revival, and it has always flourished in the 
evangelistic atmosphere. 

It has appropriated to itself the words of the 
Master to the early church as recorded in Acts 
1 : 8, ** But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
parts of the earth." 

While training and developing along every 
line of service, its pledge and prayer-meeting 
have steadily held before the young people the 
idea that they were called to be outspoken wit- 
nesses for Christ. 

Several years ago I addressed a letter to seven 
of the leading evangelists asking whether in 
their judgment, as a result of their long personal 
experience in evangelistic work, they considered 

7 



8 Introduction 

the Christian Endeavor methods successful in 
training evangelistic workers. 

Without an exception they replied, and all 
of them bore enthusiastic testimony to the help- 
fulness of the Christian Endeavorers in their 
evangelistic meetings, laying particular stress 
upon the Endeavorers' success in personally 
dealing with individuals and leading them to a 
decision for Christ. 

To train a still larger number of disciples to 
do this kind of quiet, personal evangelistic work 
in their churches is the object of the publication 
of this little book. 

The author is a long-time friend of Christian 
Endeavor, and was the originator of the uniform 
prayer-meeting topics now used by millions of 
young people in scores of thousands of societies 
in all parts of the world. 

He has had many years of experience as a 
pastor, as an evangelist, and in training evangel- 
ists in the Moody Institute, Chicago. 

He writes out of a full knowledge of all the 
conditions, and a personal experience in meeting 
all the problems. 



Introduction 9 

I feel sure that the book will be heartily wel- 
comed by a great host of earnest pastors who 
want their young people to become efficient 
soul-winners, and by a still larger host of enthu- 
siastic young people who are eager for the prac- 
tical training this book will give them. 

Every Christian Endeavor union should organ- 
ize a normal class to train leaders, and every 
Christian Endeavor society should have during 
the winter season a class for personal workers 
who, with this book as their text-book, will learn 
how to become efficient witnesses for Christ. 

With a personal workers' class to train the 
young people to do the work in *' Jerusalem and 
Judea " and a mission-study class to fit them for 
service " unto the uttermost parts of the earth," 
Christian Endeavor will be contributing its part 
to the training of a church that will both hear 
and obey the great commission which was given 
to the whole church, ** Go ye into all the world 
and preach the gospel to every creature." 

William Shaw. 

Tremont Temple^ 
Boston y Mass,, Sept, /, igro. 



11. Timothy 2 : 15 



CHAPTER I 



PERSONAL EVANGELISM: WHO SHOULD 
DO IT, AND WHY 

What is Meant by Personal Work? 
By personal work is meant individual effort to 
lead another person to Christ. It is individual 
effort as distinguished from united effort. Its 
aim is to reach one person, and not a number ; 
and its object is to persuade that person, not to 
abandon certain habits, or to believe a certain 
creed, or to unite with some church, but to ac- 
cept Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. 

WhyDoIt? 
I. Our Lord commands it. No one can read 
the New Testament without discovering that He 
expects every one of His followers to become a 
soul-winner. He taught the world thirty years 
by example and three years by precept. Then 

II 



12 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

at the close of His earthly career He uttered one 
command, " Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature." That command 
remains in force to this day. " Ye have not 
chosen me," He says, " but I have chosen you, 
and ordained you that ye should go and bring 
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." 

Here, then, is the Christian's call and com- 
mission to be a personal worker. Couple with 
these commands such ringing utterances as, " Ye 
are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you," and " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do 
not the things which I say ? " It is evident that 
we must either quit calling Jesus " Lord," or we 
must go about the Master's business. 

2. The nature of the gospel requires it. It 
is " good news," and hence it must be carried to 
the individual by an individual. We hear much 
about reaching the masses and regenerating 
society, but we must not forget that society is 
composed of units. Sin is an individual matter, 
and so is salvation. The world will not be 
judged by nations or by townships, but " every 
one of us shall give account of himself to God." 



Personal Evangelism 13 

Jesus taught the crowds ; but, when He forgave 
men's sins, He did it one by one. *' Ye shall be 
gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel." 
The gospel is so simple that even a child can 
understand it ; but sin is so subtle, and the needs 
of men so varied, that often it requires an 
experienced worker to apply the gospel to the 
individual successfully. 

One sinner thinks that he is not very bad; 
another is afraid that he cannot hold out, while 
others have doctrinal difficulties of various kinds. 
And, what is worse still, most of them are not 
quite ready to do their duty when they see it, 
without more or less persuasion. Hence no 
amount of preaching can ever take the place of 
the personal worker. 

3. The changed conditions of society demand 
it. Formerly it was customary for people to 
attend church. Indeed, one was hardly counted 
respectable unless one did. That day has gone 
by. The world no longer comes to the church 
for the gospel. The majority of the people 
to-day do not attend church. One reason for 
this is the strenuous life that many lead. They 



14 11. Timothy 2:15 

work so hard through the week that they con- 
sume seven days' strength in six days' time. 
When Sunday comes, they are so exhausted that 
they think they cannot attend church. Many 
working men receive so small wages that they 
cannot provide suitable clothing ; and, even if 
they do go, the contrast between their humble 
home and the elegant church is often so striking 
as to be painful. In many churches also the 
gospel is no longer preached, but only a cheap 
substitute for it. 

For these and other reasons a large part of 
every community practically ignores the church. 
This being the case, there is only one alterna- 
tive ; the church must carry the gospel to the 
world, for the gospel they must have. 

4. Christians need it for their own growth. 
There is nothing that gives one such a relish for 
the gospel as the habit of personal work. The 
soul-winner is usually a diligent student of the 
Bible and an eager listener to the truth, in order 
that he may learn new or better ways of leading 
men to Christ. Furthermore, the personal 
worker must necessarily be a good man. His 



Personal Evangelism 15 

calling compels him to be godly. Others may 
hold convictions that they are not putting into 
practice, but he cannot. He knows by ex- 
perience that, if he is not hving in absolute 
obedience to God, he will have no confidence in 
prayer, and no power in personal appeal. 

It is doubtful, too, whether one can realize the 
depravity of human nature until he has dealt 
with one that is utterly indifferent to the gospel. 
Here, for instance, is a man that seems to have 
no consciousness of sin, no sense of spiritual 
need. He sees no beauty in Jesus Christ. 
Love does not appeal to him ; law does not 
terrify him. He is as dead to God and heaven 
and the life eternal as a corpse in a cofifin is dead 
to any human appeal. Such an experience 
shows the worker the utter folly of presenting 
any remedy for sin save the gospel offer of a 
new, divine nature to all who accept Jesus Christ. 

Who Should Do Personal Work? 
All Christians should do personal work. 
Every one has some influence ; and he can, if he 
will, use it to win others to Christ. 



l6 II. Timothy 2: 15 

I. If you say, " I do not know howl' if^^ ^^- 
swer iSy ** Learn how!' There was a time when 
you did not know how to read, or write, or 
make shoes, or sell merchandise; but you 
learned how, as others have done before. Even 
so if you will apply your minds to the task of 
learning how to win men to Christ as earnestly 
and persistently as you did to learning your 
business, you will doubtless be as successful in 
the one as in the other. All your inexperience 
and fancied inabihty amount to nothing in the 
face of the Master's express command, " Follow 
me, and I will make you fishers of men." 

It is said that, when Mr. Edison was trying to 
perfect the phonograph, he had great difficulty 
in making it sound the sibilant. He describes 
his experience as follows : ** I would speak into 
the machine the word * specia,' and the hateful 
thing would answer back, ' pecia, pecia, pecia.' 
I worked on that one difficulty eighteen hours a 
day for seven months, until finally I conquered 
it." 

If an inventor will labor like that to overcome 
a mechanical difficulty, surely a Christian can af- 



Personal Evangelism 17 

ford to devote his spare hours, and even sit up 
nights if necessary, in order to learn how to 
make souls that are spiritually dumb sound forth 
the praises of our glorious God. 

2. Every Christian has opportunities to do 
personal work, A friend of mine was giving a 
Bible-reading in an Eastern city. At the close a 
lady came to her and said : ** Mrs. Walker, I do 
not agree with all you said to-day. You said 
that all Christians can lead souls to Christ if they 
will. But that is not true. Look at me, for in- 
stance. I am a mother with several small chil- 
dren. I could not have attended this meeting to- 
day only that my mother came to take care of 
the children. So you see that there are some 
people who cannot lead others to Christ." 

Mrs. Walker repHed : "Perhaps so, but I do 
not quite see it yet. Would you mind if I asked 
you a few questions ? " 

" Certainly not." 

" Very well. Do you employ a milkman ? " 

" Yes." 

" How often does he call at your house ? " 

" Every morning." 



l8 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

" Is he a Christian ? " 

*' I don't know." 

" Does the grocer call at your house very 
often ? " 

"Yes, once a day at least, and sometimes 
twice." 

" Is he a saved man ? " 

*' Well, really, I cannot say. I have never 
asked him." 

" Does the meatman come every day ? " 

" Yes." 

" Has he been converted ? " 

" Mrs. Walker, I don't know anything about 
it." And with that she turned and went out of 
the room. 

Two years afterward Mrs. Walker was in the 
same city, giving a Bible-reading in another 
church. At the close a lady came up to her and 
said, " Mrs. Walker, do you remember me ? " 

" No, I don't think I have ever seen you be- 
fore." 

'* Well, I remember you very distinctly." 
Then she recalled their former interview, and 
said : " I went out of that room, Mrs. Walker, 



Personal Evangelism 19 

vexed with you and myself and everybody else. 
I couldn't sleep very much that night. I pon- 
dered the matter long and carefully, and finally 
came to the conclusion that it was just as much 
my business as any one's to know about the 
spiritual condition of those who were daily com- 
ing to my door. 

" I made up my mind that I would begin with 
the milkman, and I thought out a nice little 
speech to fit his case. I arose early, built my 
fire, and waited for my man. Pretty soon he 
came hurrying in as milkmen do, poured out his 
milk, and was about to leave. Meanwhile I had 
been fumbling about, trying to find my speech ; 
but somehow I could not get hold of either end 
of it. Finally, in despair, I shouted out his name 
just as he went out of the door. He hurried 
back, and began to tip up his milk-can, saying 
as he did so, ' Do you want another quart ? ' 

" ' No, I don't want another quart,' I rephed ; 
* I want to ask you if you are a Christian.' 

" He sat down in a chair ; and, looking me 

straight in the face, he said : * Mrs. , why 

didn't you ask me that question last year ? You 



20 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

remember we were holding special meetings in 
our church; and I was interested, but I felt 
ashamed to let it be known. However, I knew 
that you were a Christian ; and so I kept telling 
you about the meetings, and talking to you 
every morning about one and another who had 
come out for Christ, hoping that you would say 
something to me about my soul. You never 

said one word, Mrs. ; and now I don't 

care one cent about the whole business ' ; and 
with that he picked up his milk-can and left the 
house. 

" Mrs. Walker, perhaps you can imagine how 
I felt. I lay down on my kitchen floor flat on 
my face; and there I lay, and sobbed out my 
shame and grief before God until I was assured 
of His forgiveness. I promised Him that, if He 
would forgive me this time, I would try to live 
so that none who came to my door should ever 
have just cause to say that I did not care for his 
soul. Then I arose and prepared for business. 
And, Mrs. Walker, there were nine people who 
came to my house that day to whom I was able 
to give a gospel message, and to-day seven out 



Personal Evangelism 21 

of the nine are professing Christians. Mrs. 
Walker, I beheve that you are right when you 
say that every Christian can, if he will, lead souls 
to Christ." 

Where Should Personal Work Be Done? 

Personal work can be done anywhere. Jesus 
said to the Gadarene demoniac, " Go home to 
thy friends, and tell them how great things the 
Lord hath done for thee." That is the place for 
every worker to begin, in his own home. It is 
often the hardest place of all in which to work, 
but unless we are faithful here we cannot expect 
the Lord to bless us elsewhere. 

Our Saviour found lost souls wherever He 
went — by the wayside well, on the seashore, 
among the tombs, up a tree, and even on the 
cross. Nineteen times it is recorded that He 
stopped to talk with a single person, and if we 
will adopt the habit of watching for opportuni- 
ties we shall be surprised to see how often they 
come. Matthew was converted in a custom- 
house. Moody in a shoe-shop, and Peter and 
John while mending their nets. 



22 11. Timothy 2:15 

Church socials afford a good opportunity to 
do religious work. Some churches plan enter- 
tainments especially for evangelistic work. In 
fact, there is no occasion where the gospel is 
out of place. At a ball-game or a boat-race is 
just as good a place to talk about Jesus as in a 
pulpit or a prayer-meeting. The gospel has 
been too much confined to damp vestries and 
dreary prayer-rooms. It is high time to get it 
out-of-doors into the sunHght, and to divest it of 
the musty smell and solemn tone that have 
prejudiced so many people against it. Yes, 
personal work can be done anywhere, at any 
time, and by anybody who knows how. 

In What Spirit Should Personal Work Be 
Done? 

I. Profound humility. Do not give the 
impression that you consider yourself a better 
man than the one you are dealing with, or that 
you regard yourself as an expert in the art of 
soul-winning. Such an impression will surely 
defeat your purpose. 

The only basis on which one can safely 



Personal Evangelism 23 

approach another is that of a sinner saved by- 
grace, who, having been saved himself, desires to 
help his fellow men. Paul was the greatest 
soul-winner of his day ; but his humility kept 
pace with his success, as is shown by the follow- 
ing expressions taken from his letters as he 
advanced in years, *^ not meet to be called an 
apostle,*' " less than the least of all saints," " the 
chief of sinners." 

2. Positive assurance. While the personal 
worker should be humble, yet he must not be 
lacking in certainty as to his own salvation. It 
is not necessary that he should know when he 
became a Christian, but it is very important 
that he should know that he is a Christian. So 
long as one is in doubt as to his own standing 
in Christ, it is utterly useless for him to try to 
lead others to Christ. 

If it be asked, " Can one know surely that he 
is a Christian ? " the answer is, Paul knew that 
he was saved (2 Tim. 1:12), and i John 5:13 
shows that God intends that all His children 
shall know whose children they are. *' These 
things have I written unto you, that ye may 



24 n. Timothy 2 : 15 

know that ye have eternal life." There are 
three sure proofs of the believer's sonship. 

(a) The witness of God's word. Remember 
that forgiveness of sin is something that takes 
place in the mind of God, and not in the 
emotional nature of the believer. Our first and 
best evidence of any such transaction, then, 
must be the testimony of God Himself. If He 
names certain conditions upon which He will 
forgive sin, and I comply with those conditions, 
I know that my sins are forgiven, because I 
have God's word for it. If I accept Jesus 
Christ as my personal Saviour, I know that I 
have become a child of God, because God's 
word affirms it. It is not a question of how I 
feel, but of what God says. The feeling may be 
wholly lacking, and yet the transaction may be 
none the less real. 

( ^ ) The witness of the Spirit. " The Spirit 
himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we 
are children of God" (Rom. 8:16). Let it 
be clearly understood that the witness of God's 
word is sufficient to prove that one is a child of 
God, and that, if one does not believe this 



Personal Evangelism 25 

witness, he makes God a liar (i John 5 : 10). 
However, the believer is entitled also to the 
witness of the Spirit, and he should not rest 
satisfied until he has it. It is a part of his 
inheritance in Christ Jesus; and, if he has not 
received it, he should reverently but persistently 
inquire the reason why. 

In some cases where the witness of the Spirit is 
lacking it will be found that the person has made 
no confession of Christ. Matt. 10:32 shows 
that, when we confess Christ before men, He 
confesses us before the Father. Rom. 10: 9 
and I John 5 : 10 would seem to indicate that, 
when we confess to the world that we have 
taken Jesus as our Saviour, the Spirit witnesses 
in our hearts that we are saved. 

A friend of mine was accosted by a lady at 
the close of a service, who told him that she had 
been trying to lead a Christian life for years, but 
that she had never enjoyed any assurance. She 
was a woman of intelligence and refinement. 
He questioned her carefully, but to all his ques- 
tions she answered with the utmost frankness 
and candor that she knew of nothing in her life 



1 



26 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

that was displeasing to God. Finally he asked 
whether she had ever confessed Christ. To his 
surprise she answered in the negative. She was 
waiting until she had the inward assurance that 
she was saved before she made an outward 
confession of her faith. He showed her from 
the Bible that she was reversing God's order, 
which is first confession, and then the witness of 
the Spirit. The next night she was in the meet- 
ing; and, when an opportunity occurred, she 
arose and quietly said, " Friends, I wish to make 
a public confession of my faith in Jesus Christ." 

The next day my friend met some one on the 
street who inquired whether he had heard about 
Mrs. . 

'* No, what about her ? " 

" Why, last night she went to her neighbor's 
house after they had retired, and rang the bell. 
They opened the window, and inquired who was 

there. She answered, ' It is Mrs. . I 

have confessed Christ as my Saviour to-night, 
and I am so happy that I cannot contain myself. 
All my life I have been robbing Him of my in- 
fluence and robbing myself of His joy. O 



Personal Evangelism 27 

friends, do confess Christ as your Saviour/ 
From house to house she went for half the night 
ringing door-bells, and telling of her joy, and 
urging people to confess Christ." 

{c) The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5 : 22). " The 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem- 
perance." This is the evidence that our neigh- 
bors will appreciate most, and which ought to be 
apparent to all. It does not appear all at once, 
however, for fruit grows, and growth requires 
time, while a gift is bestowed instantly. 

3. Genuine sincerity. The world has an idea 
that Christians frequently do not mean what 
they say, either in their personal testimony, or 
in their exhortations to others. For this reason 
their words often have but little weight. Occa- 
sionally our eyes are opened to this fact in a 
painful way, as in the following instance. 

In a series of meetings at Lafayette, Ind., a 
certain judge had been present at all the serv- 
ices. He was a church-member, but rather 
cold and undemonstrative. During the meetings 
he had made no response to any of the appeals 



28 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

made to Christians for support. Just before the 
services closed he arose one day, and said : " Mr. 

, one of our business men, has died within 

the last hour ; I was with him ; and, when I saw 
that he could not live, I asked him if he was pre- 
pared to die. ' No/ he replied. ' Haven't you 
ever been warned ? ' * Yes, my friends have of- 
ten spoken to me about it, but somehow I never 
thought they half meant what they said.' Breth- 
ren/' said the judge, " from this time forth I want 
the world to know that I mean what I say, that I 
mean business." 

The only way to avoid giving a false impres- 
sion is to be genuinely sincere. Say what you 
mean, and mean what you say. Don't preach 
purity unless you are pure yourself. Do not 
urge others to do what you are not wiUing to do. 
In other words, do not preach beyond your own 
experience. If you haven't an experience, get 
one. Wait until you have some convictions be- 
fore you begin to talk to others about their duty. 
But, if you will be honest with God in prayer, 
and with your fellow men in speech, you will have 
no trouble in convincing them of your sincerity. 




Personal Evangelism 29 



Questions 

What is meant by personal work ? 

Why should it be done ? 

What is the highest motive for doing it ? 

Why do so few Christians engage in it ? 

Who should do it ? 

Is any Christian excused from it ? 

Where is personal work most needed ? 

Where is it not needed ? 

Name good fields for personal work not now oc- 
cupied. 

In what spirit should it be done ? 

How may a worker hinder his own work ? 

How can one be sure that he is a Christian ? 

Which is the most satisfying reason to you ? 

What is the best proof to your neighbor that 
you are a Christian ? 

Why does the world question the sincerity of 
Christians ? 

Do you mean all you say in testimony and ex* 
hortation ? 

If not, why not ? 



CHAPTER II 
HOW SHOULD WE PREPARE? 

I. By right living. The strongest argument 
for Christianity is a godly Hfe. There is about it 
something that is well-nigh irresistible. Daniel 
says, " The people that do know their God shall 
be strong, and do exploits," but it is only the 
pure in heart who can know God. 

A few years ago a young Japanese came to 
the study of Dr. Leighton Parks of Boston, and 
desired an interview. The conversation that 
followed was something like this : 

" Sir, can you tell me about the beautiful 
life ? " 

Dr. Parks answered, "Do you wish to talk 
with me about religion ? " 

" No, sir ; I merely wish to inquire about the 
beautiful Hfe." 

*' Have you ever read the Bible ? " 
30 



How Should We Prepare? 31 

" Yes, I have read it some, but I do not like 
your Bible/' 

" Have you ever attended church services ? " 

" Yes, I have been to church two or three 
times, but I do not Uke the church. I am trying 
to find the beautiful Hfe. I notice that many of 
your American people lie and cheat and do 
mean thmgs like the Japanese, and yet you are 
all Christians. No, I do not think it is your 
religion ; but there is something that I want. I 
do not know what it is, but I call it the beautiful 
life." 

** Where did you hear about it ? " asked Dr. 
Parks. 

*' I never heard about it at all, but I saw it 
first in San Francisco. I spent three weeks in 
a boarding-house with an old man who had it. 
He was not an educated man like myself. I 
have studied at our Japanese universities, and I 
am now studying at one of your greatest 
American universities. But this man I speak of 
was uneducated and very humble. He was a poor 
man, but there was something inexpressibly 
beautiful about his life. He was always helping 



32 11. Timothy 2:15 

others ; he never seemed to think of himself at 
all ; but he was always going about doing good 
to others. I had always thought that there might 
be something of the kind in the world, but I had 
never seen it. Since then I have seen a few 
others who had it in some of your American 
homes. I do not think it is your religion, for all 
do not seem to have it." 

Dr. Parks opened his Bible to I Cor. 1 3, and 
read to him Paul's wonderful description of the 
love that faileth not. 

" Is that what you are looking for ? " he in- 
quired. 

" Yes, I think perhaps it is. At all events, it 
sounds like it. But, sir, can you tell me how to 
get it ? I must have it at any cost." 

Then Dr. Parks told him the story of Jesus, 
and gave him a New Testament, and sent him 
away, telling him that he must study it and pray 
that light might be given him to live this beauti- 
ful life. 

Dr. Parks heard nothing from the Japanese 
for a year or two, but finally received a letter 
from him, saying that he had been called back 



I 



How Should We Prepare? 33 

to his country to fill an important position ; 
but he had something to tell him, and wished to 
see him. 

When the Japanese arrived, he was in a great 
hurry ; and, drawing out his watch, he said, 
"My train starts for San Francisco at two 
o'clock, where I take the steamer for Japan ; but 
I want to tell you that I have found the beautiful 
hfe, I have found Jesus Christ." 

The Japanese thought it was not the Christian 
rehgion that he was seeking, because most of 
the Christians he saw did not seem to possess 
the beautiful life ; and yet every hfe that is hid 
with Christ in God ought to be winsome and 
beautiful. 

A few years ago a student at the Moody 
Bible Institute worked his passage to England 
on a cattle-steamer for the express purpose of 
leading his brother to Christ. He resolved that 
he would not introduce the subject of religion at 
first, but would see what could be accomplished 
by a Christlike life. He had not been there long 
before his brother said to him : " Frank, what 
has come over you since you left home ? You 



34 n. Timothy 2 : 15 

are so dififerent from what you used to be! 
Whatever it is, I want it. Now tell me how to 
get it." With this introduction it was an easy 
task, of course, to lead his brother to Christ. 

On the other hand, if there is any conscious 
sin in a person's hfe, it is impossible for him to 
do effective personal work. David says in 
Psalm 51 : 12, 13, ** Restore unto me the joy 
of thy salvation. . . . Then will I teach 
transgressors thy ways ; and sinners shall be 
converted unto thee." 

It was not strange that David had lost his 
power, or that sinners were no longer being con- 
verted under his ministry. There was sin in his 
life, and he knew it, and hence his hearty con- 
fession and plea for mercy. Persuading people 
to repent is a work so delicate and difficult that 
it is useless to attempt it unless we are right with 
God ourselves. 

At a time when there was some religious in- 
terest at Princeton College one of the students of- 
fered himself as a worker. He was assigned to 
see a certain man. When asked about the re- 
sult of his visit, he replied : " O, I made no 



How Should We Prepare? 35 

headway. It was a great mistake to send me 
there. When I asked him why he was not a 
Christian, he looked at me and said, * Are you a 
Christian ? ' ' Yes/ * Are you a fair sample of 
Christianity ? ' * Yes, I think I am about the 
average/ ' You are ? ' * Yes/ * Then I do not 
want to be a Christian/ " That answer went 
straight to the man's heart. He knew what it 
meant. The unbeliever had seen him cheat in 
examinations ; he had heard him say things that 
were not true ; and he had lost all respect for 
him. It is not enough to be sound in doctrine ; 
one must also be consistent in Hfe. And, even 
when the outward life is exemplary, there may 
be a secret, unforgiving spirit, or unwillingness 
to do God's will, which hinders our usefulness. 

A lady once said to me, *' I am the daughter 
of a minister ; I am a graduate of Wellesley 
College; I have taught in Sunday-school ever 
since I was fifteen years old ; and yet to the best 
of my knowledge I have never led a single soul 
to Christ." 

'* I thought that all your boys became Chris- 
tians last Sunday." 



36 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

" That is true ; but I had nothing to do with 
it, and that is what is breaking my heart." 

" Do not be too sure of that," I replied ; and 
then I used an illustration something like this : 
" Suppose that chandelier was suspended by a 
chain instead of a rod. What link in the chain 
do you think would be the most important, the 
first, or the second, or the last one ? " 

" I do not see as there would be any difference. 
If you take out any of them, the whole thing 
would come down." 

" Very true," I replied. " Now, in the long 
chain of events by which God brings any wan« 
dering soul back to Himself, which is the most 
important Hnk, the first, or the fiftieth, or the 
last ? " 

" There is no difference. If any one of the 
links is gone, you cannot secure the final result." 

" Perhaps you did not speak the final words that 
led your boys to decision, but you have certainly 
spoken many earnest words that prepared the 
way for some one else to lead them to decision. 
Who shall say that your words were not just as 
important as his ? " 



How Should We Prepare? 37 

" There is some comfort in that, I must ad- 
mit." 

** Certainly, that is why I said it/' 

" But do you not think that every Christian 
ought to be able to speak the last words which 
lead a soul to decision occasionally ? " 

" I do. I believe that God wishes all His chil- 
dren to be soul-winners, and that He has made 
abundant provision for that end." 

" I think there is something wrong in my life," 
she replied. 

I thought so too, and so I waited for the Lord 
to show her what was needed. In a few weeks 
she sent word that she was now ready to devote 
her life to winning souls to Christ, and that she 
was willing to live in the slums, or wherever God 
chose to use her. 

In this instance there was some conscious dis- 
obedience that had evidently stood in her way 
for years. So long as there is any such obstacle 
one cannot pray with confidence, or speak with 
power. We must be able to look God in the 
face and say, " Thou knowest that I love Thee," 
and also look our neighbor in the face and say, 



38 II. Timothy 2:15 

** Vou know that I am anxious for your conver- 
sion." 

But some one may ask, '' Can we ever be suf- 
ficiently free from sin to feel warranted in talk- 
ing to others about their sins ? " Yes, indeed. 
Every personal worker must and can be free 
from guilt of conscious sin. If there is anything 
wrong in your life, confess and forsake it, and 
God will forgive you instantly. If you have lost 
the respect of any one, you doubtless know the 
reason why. Go to him, and frankly acknowl- 
edge your fault, and ask his forgiveness. Then 
you are in a position to talk to him about his sins, 
but not before. How fully God forgave David 
and restored to him his old-time power is shown 
by the fact that the Christian church has been 
feeding her soul on his psalms for centuries, and 
will for all time to come. 

2. By prayer. The importance of prayer as 
a preparation is seen when we consider the 
nature of the work. The task before us is to 
convince men that they are lost, and to persuade 
them to confess their sin and surrender their lives 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy to show a 



How Should We Prepare? 39 

thief or a drunkard that he is a sinner, and needs 
salvation ; but it is not easy to persuade a 
respectable moral man that he is a sinner simply 
because he has not accepted Christ as his 
Saviour. Sin is so subtle, and the human heart 
so stubborn, that only the Holy Spirit can make 
one see that unbelief is the crowning sin of all. 

The common idea is that work is the main 
business of the Christian, and a Httle prayer is 
necessary to help the work along. Christ's idea 
is entirely different. In His thought prayer is 
our chief business, with just enough work to 
make a channel through which the spiritual 
forces generated by prayer may find an outlet. 
Prayer is the bow that supplies the force, and 
work is the feather that guides the arrow to its 
destination. ** If ye shall ask — I will do," He 
says. In other words, Christ is still doing the 
work that He *' began to do " (Acts i : i), and 
He invites us to help Him by prayer, whereas 
too many Christians think that they are carrying 
on the work, but need a little help from Him. 
What your idea is may best be determined by 
estimating the amount of time that you spend in 



40 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

working for the Lord and the amount of time 
spent in prayer. 

Yes, we are ignorant, but thank God we can 
all learn. Jesus has opened a school of prayer 
in which, if we will, we may learn the divine art. 
And what a teacher ! How patient, how long- 
suffering with dull scholars ! And how much 
He knows about the subject! For eighteen 
hundred years this has been His constant occu- 
pation, and now He invites us to become His 
pupils, and offers to teach us all He knows. 
" All things that I have heard from my Father 
I have made known unto you" (John 15:15). 

The personal worker should cultivate the 
habit of praying daily for all men. This is 
not only a positive command (i Tim. 2 : i), but 
the habit has many obvious advantages. For 
instance, you never meet a person for whom you 
have not prayed, and this fact gives you a 
deeper interest and a stronger faith than would 
otherwise be possible. Sometimes it is well to 
tell the person you are dealing with that you 
have prayed for him scores of times. Possibly 
he may ask, ** Have you ever seen me before ? " 



How Should We Prepare? 41 

" Not to my knowledge/' 

" And yet you say that you have prayed for 
me many times ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" I cannot understand that." 

" Very likely. That is one of the mysteries 
of the Kingdom, and there are many other 
strange things that you cannot understand until 
you are a Christian yourself." 

Think what it will mean when you reach 
heaven, and people come to you with some 
such introduction as this : " I am glad to meet 
you, my friend. You may not recognize me, for 
I spent my Hfe in China and you in America, 
but since I reached heaven I have been looking 
up the links in the chain of influences that 
brought me here, and I find that the fact that 
you were praying daily for me for some ten or 
fifteen years was a strong factor leading to my 
conversion. When I discovered this, I resolved to 
look you up and thank you for what you have done 
for me." Why should not such experiences be a 
matter of daily occurrence to us in heaven if we 
practise the habit of daily prayer for all men ? 



42 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

It is well also to have a prayer list, and daily 
remember by name those whom God has espe- 
cially laid on our hearts. As a rule it is easy to 
speak to those for whom we have often prayed. 
Gypsy Smith tells us that when he was con- 
verted he immediately became anxious for the 
conversion of his uncle. Among gypsies it 
was not considered proper for children to 
address their elders on the subject of duty ; and 
so the boy just prayed, and waited for God to 
open the way. One day his uncle noticed a 
hole in his trousers, and said, " Rodney, how is 
it that you have worn the knees of your pants so 
much faster than the rest of them ? " 

** Uncle, I have worn them out praying for 
you, that God would make you a Christian " ; 
and then the tears came of course. 

Nothing more was said, but the uncle put his 
arm around the boy, and drew him close to his 
breast, and in a little while was bending his 
knees to the same Saviour. When we wear our 
clothes thin in praying for others, we shall not 
find it hard to speak to them if the opportunity 
occurs. 



1 



How Should We Prepare? 43 

Not only does prayer bring conviction of sin, 
remove difficulties, and soften prejudices; but 
often it opens the way for us to meet the very 
person whom we desire to help. I heard a 
minister say recently that he was urgently re- 
quested to interview and lead to Christ a lady 
who was entirely unknown to him. She did not 
attend his church, and he had no reasonable 
excuse for calling upon her. He began to pray 
that God would open the way for a meeting, 
and the very next Sunday at the close of service 
a lady came up and introduced herself to him ; 
and it proved to be the very one whom he was 
anxious to meet. She had come to his church 
for the first time, and entirely without the soHci- 
tation of any one, and even made herself known 
to him. 

When Mr. George MUller was in this country, 
a friend of mine asked him how long he had 
ever prayed continuously for any object. Taking 
a Httle book from his pocket, he said : " When 
I was converted, I was a wild boy in college. 
My conversion broke friendship between my 
roommate and myself, for he would * have noth- 



44 n. Timothy 2:15 

ing to do with such a fanatic/ he said. I wrote 
his name in this book, and promised God that I 
would pray for liim each day until he was con- 
verted, or until I died. I prayed five years with 
no apparent result. Ten years went by with no 
change. I continued on for fifteen years — 
twenty years, and still he was an unbeliever. I 
did not yet give him up, but prayed twenty-five 
years, each day mentioning his name at the 
throne of grace, and then came a letter saying, 
' I have found the Saviour.' Then," said Mr. 
Mliller, '^ I checked out this petition as answered. 
In this same book I have names of others that I 
have prayed for, five, ten, and fifteen years, and 
scores of names against which there is a cross, 
showing that the requests have been granted." 
Here, then, was a man who made a business 
of prayer, and who kept his accounts with the 
Lord in a businesslike way. When he had a 
matter to present to God's attention, he first 
found a promise on which to base his appeal, 
always making sure if possible that it was accord- 
ing to God's will. Then he recorded his petition 
in a book, and watched and waited for the 



How Should We Prepare? 45 

answer. Is it any wonder that this man's faith 
grew rapidly, and that he became the most 
notable, and possibly the most successful, praying 
man of modern times ? 

We see by this illustration why many prayers 
fail; they are rambling appeals, so vague and 
indefinite that even the petitioner can hardly 
remember what he prayed for when he rises from 
his knees. Because there is no expectation of 
any answer no record is made of them, and no 
surprise is felt if the answer does not come. 
And so the solemn farce goes on year after 
year. 

It is said that in battle it takes a hundred 
pounds of lead to kill a man, because ninety-nine 
pounds and fifteen ounces of it is wasted in wild 
firing that aims at nothing and hits no one. On 
the other hand, the sharpshooter wastes no 
ammunition, but picks his man, and makes every 
bullet tell. So, if we would pray for fewer objects, 
more carefully selected, and then make a record 
of our prayers and watch for the answer, we 
should not waste so much breath, and we should 
obtain more results. 



46 II. Timothy 2:15 

3. By Bible-study. Since the Word of God 
is the instrument by which conversion is usually 
effected, the personal worker must learn how to 
use it. The Bible is called the sword of the 
Spirit, but of what use is a sword to one that 
has not taken fencing-lessons ? His opponent 
can disarm him in a moment, and leave him 
utterly defenceless. Even so many Christians 
that might wield the sword of the Spirit with 
tremendous power are almost impotent for the 
lack of a little special training in the use of the 
Bible. 

On the other hand, I have known cases where 
young people who had only just begun the 
Christian life themselves, but who had been 
taught how to use a few verses of Scripture, 
would tackle people much older than themselves, 
and lead them to Christ. A girl of sixteen who 
had been converted only a week found in the 
inquiry-room a married couple with no one to 
talk to them. She approached them modestly, 
opened the subject of their relation to the 
Saviour ; and, when they offered any excuse, 
she would answer, '< Yes, it may seem so to you, 



How Should We Prepare? 47 

but God says so and so," and then she would 
read the passage. Before long all three of them 
were on their knees in prayer. 

A friend of mine was giving studies on personal 
work in a New England town. A woman pres- 
ent, whose husband was a sceptic, committed 
to memory two verses that seemed especially 
appropriate to her husband's case. At the 
supper-table that night he began as usual some 
attack on the Bible. When he had finished, 
she quietly quoted the two verses that she 
had learned. 

" Where did you get that ? " he inquired 
fiercely. 

" In the Bible." 

" Do you mean to say that those words are in 
the Bible?" 

" I do." 

" Show them to me." 

She brought her Bible and pointed out the 
passage. When he had read it, he laid down the 
book, and said, '* Wife, I am wrong, and there is 
only one thing for me to do, and that is to con- 
fess my sin to God and plead for mercy " ; and. 



48 II. Timothy 2:15 

pushing his chair from the table, he added, 
" And I might as well do it now as ever " ; and 
together they knelt in prayer for the first time in 
their Hves. All that the wife had done was to 
quote a passage of Scripture ; but it was a pas- 
sage that fitted the case, and hence the result. 

A man might own a whole drug-store ; but, if 
he did not know where to find the drugs, or their 
various medicinal properties, he would be of lit- 
tle use to the sick. Even so a Christian may 
have a Bible that contains remedies for every 
conceivable spiritual condition; but, if he does 
not know where to find them, or how to use 
them, he will have little success as a soul-winner. 
The training-class shows how to diagnose a case, 
what remedies to use, and where to find them. 

I know of a training-class out of which three 
young men started for the ministry, two young 
women went into mission work, and one offered 
herself for the foreign field. Out of another class 
of sixteen members, two became ministers, 
twelve went to the foreign field, one is a trained 
nurse, and one is the religious reporter on a 
daily paper. Another class of twenty members 



How Should We Prepare? 49 

sent nearly all of the number into some form of 
Christian work. The fact is that, when people 
know how to do Christian work well, they 
love to do it. Why not have a training-class in 
your church? These are stirring times, and 
God needs every available worker. Will you be 
one, and will you advocate a training-class in 
your community until you get it ? 



50 11. Timothy 2 : 15 



Questions 

Why is a godly life essential to success in per- 
sonal work ? 

What can one do who has made a bad record ? 

What Bible characters who had made a bad 
record became successful workers ? 

Is prayer more important than work ? 

If there are fifteen hundred million people on 
the earth, how many can you help each day 
by prayer ? 

How many by your example ? 

By personal work ? 

How long should one pray for an unsaved per- 
son? 

Is it right to stop praying for one whom the 
Holy Spirit has laid on your heart ? 

Which is better, to pray much and work little, or 
to pray little and work a great deal ? 

Why do so many prayers fail of an answer ? 

How does a knowledge of the Bible help the 
personal worker ? 



CHAPTER III 
HOW TO OPEN RELIGIOUS CONVERSATION 

Open it just as you would any other conver- 
sation. Decide what you wish to say, and then 
say it. Say it in the same tone in which you 
would speak of anything else. It is a great mis- 
take to suppose that one must lower his voice, 
and look solemn, the moment he introduces the 
subject of rehgion. The gospel is good news. 
If you do not think so, the less you say about it 
the better ; but, if it is really good news to you, 
then speak of it in the same joyful, hearty way 
in which you would bring any other glad tid- 
ings. 

The president of one of our largest theological 
seminaries was led to Christ in this way. Dur- 
ing his college course, as he came out of recita- 
tion one day, a classmate gave him a slap on the 
back, and said, " Say, Gus, I wish you were a 
Christian." Gus made no reply, and the matter 
was dropped; but years afterward he told his 

51 



52 11. Timothy 2:15 

friend that it was that remark which led him to 
accept Christ as his Saviour. The hearty and 
natural way in which his companion spoke made 
him feel that he was missing something that he 
could not afford to lose. 

Christian conversation seems to be almost a 
lost art in some quarters. How seldom does one 
hear the subject broached in public places like a 
drawing-room or at a dinner-party even when 
all the people present are professing Christians ! 
Riding in the cars with a stranger one day, I 
opened the subject of religion. After a while he 
admitted that he was a member of a church. 

" If that is the case," I said, " why didn't you 
talk to me like a Christian, and not compel me 
to work so long to find out your position ? " 

" People don't do that down our way," said he. 
" If I should speak to a man who came into my 
store on the subject of rehgion, what do you 
suppose he would think of me ? " 

" He would probably think you were a Chris- 
tian," I repHed. 

*' Well, no one talks about religion down our 
way, not even the ministers. We never hear 




How to Open Religious Conversation 53 
from them on the subject except from the pul- 

pit." 

That Christians do not talk more about the 
things of the Kingdom is a constant surprise to 
the unsaved, and often an occasion of doubt. 
Said a sceptical lady to a friend of mine : ** I will 
tell you why I am a doubter. I was in a sew- 
ing-society last week. Forty ladies were present, 
and every one a church-member except myself. 
I was there three hours. We talked of every- 
thing down to crazy patchwork, but not a word 
about Jesus. I cannot believe that they see in 
Jesus Christ any such beauty or power as you 
speak of. I am convinced that there is a great 
deal of sham in the profession of Christian 
people." 

On the other hand, how refreshing it is to 
meet those who are evidently in the condition 
of Peter and John, who said, " We cannot but 
speak the things which we have seen and heard." 
A gentleman driving along overtook a stranger, 
and invited him to ride. As he approached the 
man, he said to himself: "I wonder what the 
man is thinking about, and what subject of con- 



54 II. Timothy 2:15 

versation he will introduce. Surely it will be 
one of three things — the weather, the crops, or 
the election/' It was none of these. His first 
words after the usual salutations were, " How's 
religion down in your country ? " The question 
startled the man a httle by its directness; but 
it showed where the other's heart was, and led 
to a long and profitable conversation on heavenly 
things. 

How much might be accomplished by each 
of us if our hearts were warm and glowing with 
love to Christ and our minds on the alert to 
improve every opportunity that God sets before 
us ! 

That it requires tact and skill to carry on re- 
ligious conversation successfully, no one can 
deny, but is it not worth while to study the art 
until we become proficient in it ? If we follow 
Paul's advice to the Colossians, we shall always 
have something to say. " Let the word of Christ 
dwell in you richly in all wisdom." If we begin 
each day with David's prayer, " Let the words of 
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be 
acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength 



How to Open Religious Conversation ^^ 

and my redeemer," we shall keep in touch with 
God. And if we watch for souls as those that 
must give an account, we shall have opportunities 
enough, so that in a short time we shall find 
Christian conversation a real pleasure to ourselves 
and a blessing to others. 

I. Study the art of diverting conversation to 
spiritual topics. Go through the Gospel of John, 
and study carefully the Saviour's methods of 
approaching men. Indeed, the Gospel of John 
might well be called the personal worker's 
Gospel, so full is it of incidents that illustrate 
this important subject. 

Take the case of the Samaritan woman. Jesus 
asked her for a drink of water. As He drank it, 
you can imagine Him saying, *' This is very good 
water, but any one who drinks it will soon thirst 
again; whosoever drinketh of the water that 
I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water 
that I shall give him shall become in him a well 
of water springing up unto eternal life." 

** What is that ? " asked the woman. 

*' A water such that if you once drink it you 
never thirst again." 



56 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

" Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, 
neither come all the way hither to draw/' 

By this clever device He excites her curiosity, 
simply to attract attention to Himself. At 
another time He is the bread of life, the vine, 
the door, the Good Shepherd ; but, whatever the 
subject of conversation. He always leaves His 
hearers face to face with the Son of God and His 
supreme claim upon them. 

" But I am not the Saviour," you reply. 

Very true ; but, if you are a Christian, the 
Saviour dwells in you, and He has said, " I will 
give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your 
adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor re- 
sist." 

I know a lady to whom an agent was trying 
to sell an article for taking out stains. He was 
rubbing away, and meanwhile eloquently describ- 
ing the merits of his goods. Soon the lady said, 
*' I know something that will take out stains, too." 

'' What is that ? " asked the man eagerly, not 
knowing but that some other dirt-killer had can- 
vassed the town ahead of him. 

" The blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanseth 




How to Open Religious Conversation 57 

us from all sin. Do you know anything about 
that, my friend ? " 

Do you suppose that man would show his 
goods again for six months without thinking of 
that other something that could take stains out 
of a sinful heart? I doubt whether he would 
forget that lesson to his dying day. 

A friend of mine at the Northfield Conference 
was asked by an expressman to direct him. to a 
certain man's tent. 

" I am very sorry," he replied, " that I cannot 
tell you where to find him ; but, if you had asked 
me the way to heaven, I could have told you. 
Do you know the way to heaven ? " 

" No," said the man ; " I cannot say that I do." 

"Well, it is just this way," said my friend; 
and he went on to explain it. 

The result was that the man was led to Christ 
right then and there. Surely that was an easy 
way to open religious conversation. Any one 
could do that. You could do it. 

Do not suppose that this was the first time he 
had ever used this little device. On the contrary, 
he was always using it. It had become the 



58 II. Timothy 2:15 

habit of his hfe to study the most effective ways 
of turning conversation. If a stranger asked him 
the time of day, he would be Hkely to answer : 
** It is a quarter past ten, just the time of day 
for a man to be saved if he isn't saved already. 
How is it with you, my friend ? Are you a 
Christian ? " 

Of course such a question might seem a httle 
abrupt, and it certainly would be unexpected. 
But, all the same, it is pointed and pertinent, 
and it calls for a definite answer. And, what- 
ever the result might be, the interview would 
not soon be forgotten. 

A Salvation Army girl was selling The War- 
Cry in a saloon, when a man said to her, ** You 
don't beheve in the Bible, do you ? " 

'' I do," said the girl, " or I wouldn't be in this 
place, I can assure you." 

" You don't mean to say that you believe that 
story about the whale swallowing Jonah ? " 

'* Certainly I do ; God says so, and I believe 
it." 

" Pshaw ! " said the man, '' nobody believes 
that story nowadays." 



How to Open Religious Conversation 59 

" Well," said the girl, " when I get to heaven, 
I will go to Jonah and ask him if he had a real 
experience in a real whale/* 

** But you won't find Jonah in heaven; he isn't 
there." 

"Then suppose you ask him," said the girl 
quietly, assuming that, if Jonah was not in 
heaven, he might be in the other place. 

" That girl was bright," you say. Very true, 
but who gave her that wit and wisdom ? The 
Holy Spirit, and He will give you all the wit 
and wisdom you need for the work to which He 
has called you. " The anointing which ye have 
received of him abideth in you, and ye need 
not that any man teach you"(i John 2:27). 
If Christians would only believe what God says, 
they would have more confidence to engage in 
personal work. 

2. Choose an opportune time and place. It is 
not well to stop one who is running for a train 
to inquire about his soul, neither is it the highest 
wisdom to give a hungry man a tract. Far 
better give him a cup of coffee, and make it so 
hot that he cannot drink it. Then, while he is 



6o II. Timothy 2:15 

sipping the coffee, you can perhaps say some- 
thing to warm his heart. 

It is a good plan to lay people under some 
sUght obligation. If your neighbor in the car 
has no paper, buy one, and after glancing at it 
pass it to him, saying, ** Would you Hke to see 
the morning paper?" After he has read it the 
most natural thing is to open conversation about 
the news of the day, and from this you can pass 
to more important topics. 

Remember that persons are often more ready 
to talk about religion with strangers than with 
those whom they know. Remember that the 
Holy Spirit is all the while convicting people of 
sin, the providence of God is continually soften- 
ing hearts and preparing the way for some one 
to drop in the good seed of the gospel. Re- 
member also that thousands of persons have 
never once in all their lives had the way of 
salvation made plain to them, and then in a firm 
but loving way been urged to settle the question, 
and settle it now. 

3. Watch for souls as those that must give 
account. When an insurance agent is intro- 



How to Open Religious Conversation 61 

duced to a man, his first thought is, ** How old is 
that man, and how much Hfe insurance does he 
carry ? " and he isn't long in finding out, either. 

A friend of mine was accosted by the words, 
** Shine your shoes, boss ? " 

Looking at his feet he said, ** Well, I guess I 
do need a shine, but I didn't know it ; how did 
you know that my shoes needed a shine ? " 

" That's my business, boss ; when a man 
comes into this hotel, I don't look to see what 
kind of a hat he wears, I don't look at his face, 
I just looks at his feet ; that's my business, you 
see. 

So should it be our business, when we meet a 
man, to think of his soul and the possible ways 
of helping him. 

Do not always walk home from church the 
same way and with the same person. Join some 
one who is not a Christian, and, as you walk 
along, express your views about the sermon, and 
see what impression it has made upon him. 
That is what sermons are for, in part, to give 
people something to talk about, and arguments 
to use in leading people to decision. 



62 11. Timothy 2:15 

4. Obey every prompting of the Holy Spirit. 
It required some grace for Philip to leave a 
great revival at Samaria and journey down the 
desert road to Gaza on an unknown errand. If 
he had been like some Christians, he would have 
argued with the Lord about the matter until he 
had missed his opportunity; but, as it was, *' he 
arose and went," without one word of remon- 
strance. He arrived at the crossroads just in 
time to intercept the treasurer of the great 
Ethiopian empire, and he had the joy of lead- 
ing him to Christ. Had he arrived five minutes 
later, his journey would have been in vain. 

One of the secrets of success in Christian 
work is to obey the Spirit promptly. Dr. A. C. 
Dixon was hurrying to church one night when 
he saw three young men talking by the wayside. 
Just as he passed he felt led to speak to them. 
He went back, and asked whether they were 
Christians. Two of them replied in the affirma- 
tive. He then invited them to church. 

The one that was not a Christian said, " We 
haven't time to go, as we are cramming for ex- 
aminations." 



How to Open Religious Conversation 63 

Dr. Dixon simply replied, " Are you ready for 
the great examination, my friend ? " and passed 
on. 

That night the young man that said he had 
not time came to the service and accepted 
Christ, and is now a preacher of the gospel. 

The writer was walking down the street one 
day when he met a friend, who said to him, 
" Howard, don't you expect to become a Chris- 
tian some time ? " 

" Why, yes, I presume so. I suppose every 
one expects to become a Christian some time.*' 

" Don't you think it would be a wise thing if 
you were to accept Christ as your Saviour 
now ? " 

" Probably. If it is a good thing to do at all, 
I suppose the sooner it is done, the better." 

" Well, Howard, will you accept Christ now ? " 

I hesitated a moment, and then answered, 
" Yes " ; and that is the way I was led to Christ. 

A college classmate of mine was converted in 
the following manner. He was in the high 
school. One day his teacher walked down the 
aisle with her hands behind her. As she passed 



64 II. Timothy 2:15 

his desk, she dropped a note on it in such a way 
that no one else would notice it. He opened it 
and read, ** Dear Charles, as you are especially 
good in mathematics, I wish to propose the fol- 
lowing question : * What shall it profit a man if 
he gain the whole world and lose his own 
soul ? ' " The tactful way of approach and the 
pertinence of the question led to his immediate 
conversion, and also to the conversion of his 
seat-mate, who peeped over his shoulder and 
read the note. Any teacher could use that 
method. 

Two boys sat in a bedroom trading stamps. 
One said to the other, " Jim, do you love Je- 
sus?" 

" What is that you said, John ? " 
" I asked if you loved Jesus." 
" Well, no, I cannot say that I do." 
" Well, Jim, I'm not much of a Christian my- 
self; but I really wish you would give your heart 
to Jesus. Suppose we kneel down, and I will 
ask Him to help you. Shall we ? " 

" No, John, you needn't ask Him. Til ask 
Him myself." 



How to Open Religious Conversation 65 

And that was the way Jim became a Chris- 
tian. That was twenty-five years ago. To-day 
Jim is a printer in an Eastern city, doing faithful 
work for the Master. John is the pastor of one 
of the strongest churches in Chicago, and not a 
Christmas has passed for a quarter of a century 
without his receiving from Jim some grateful 
remembrance of that eventful conversation. 



66 11. Timothy 2 : 15 



Questions 

Why do Christians so seldom speak of their 
Lord? 

How does their silence in this respect affect 
those that are not Christians ? 

Do unsaved people as a rule welcome religious 
conversation ? 

How would you open conversation with a 
stranger ? 

Give illustrations of the way in which conversa- 
tion may be diverted to spiritual topics. 

How can one prepare the way ? 

How shall we know what to say ? 

Who will help us in talking for the Master ? 

Give illustrations of an inopportune time for re- 
ligious work. 

How can we know when God wishes us to speak 
to another? 

How would you meet a rebuff? 

Whose word shall not return to Him void ? 

Is there any room for failure with such a promise ? 



CHAPTER IV 
HOW TO USE THE BIBLE 

L The Unconcerned 

There can be no repentance until one realizes 
that he is a sinner, and something of the nature 
and consequences of sin. It is useless to argue. 
The only effective way is to show the person 
from the Bible what he is in God's sight. If he 
says, " I am not very bad," answer : " It may be 
that you are not very bad in your own estima- 
tion or in the opinion of others, but let us see 
what God says about you. His word is the only 
true standard." 

Open your Bible, and ask him to read aloud 
Rom. 3 : lo, " There is none righteous, no, not 
one." After he has read it ask him a few ques- 
tions, 

" Whose words are those that you have read ? " 

" God's words." 

" Does He know the real condition of a man's 
heart?" 

67 



68 



11. Timothy 2:15 



" Yes." 

" Does He know a man's heart better than the 
man himself?" 

" Probably." 

" Who does He say is righteous ? " 

" He says that there is none righteous." 

" What, not one ? " 

" No, not one." 

" Are you an exception to this rule ? " 

" I suppose not." 

" Then you admit that you are not really 
righteous ? " 

'* I suppose I must." 

Ask him to read Rom. 3: 23. Then say to 
him, " Who does God say have sinned ? " 

'< All have sinned." 

" Are you an exception ? " 

'^ No." 

" Then you admit that you have sinned, and 
come short of the glory of God ? " 

By this time the man is becoming uneasy. 
He is beginning to realize that, whatever he may 
be in his own estimation, in God's sight he is a 
sinner. You have withdrawn his attention from 



How to Use the Bible 69 

the inconsistent church-members with whom he 
has formerly compared himself, and you have 
fixed his mind upon the great God to whom he 
must give an account, and by whose holy law he 
must be judged. 

Another good verse to use with this class is 
Isa. 53:6. After the man has read it ask him : 

" Who does God say has gone astray ? " 

" All of us." 

" Does that include you ? " 

" I suppose it does." 

** What does He say we have done ? " 

" We have turned every one to his own 
way." 

" Then, according to God's word, having one's 
own way is sin ? " 

" So it seems." 

It is well to emphasize this point strongly, for 
to the average person the word " sin " means 
some form of vice or crime. According to this 
verse, however, the real essence of sin consists in 
having one's own way instead of walking in 
God's way. It may not be an immoral way, or 
a dishonest way, or an untruthful way ; but it is 



yo II. Timothy 2 : 15 

his way and not God's way, in which he ought 
to walk. 

Returning to the verse, you can ask, " What 
do you say of a sheep that has gone astray? " 

" It is lost." 

" Then, if you have had your own way 
through hfe instead of doing God's will, you too 
are lost, are you not ? " 

" So it appears." 

" Admitting, then, that you are a lost sinner, 
what does God say that He has done with your 
sins?" 

** ' And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity 
of us all.' " 

" Then your sins have made it necessary for 
Jesus to die on the cross ? " 

"Yes." 

"When Jesus took your place on the cross 
and died for your sins, you refused to acknowl- 
edge Him as your Saviour, did you not ? " 

" Yes." 

" And you have never once thanked Him for 
what He has done for you, have you ? " 

" No." 



How to Use the Bible 71 

" And yet you say you are not very bad. If 
this is not bad, will you tell me what is ? There 
is only one thing worse, and that is to continue 
rejecting such a Saviour." 

Show him also the consequences of sin (Rom. 
6 : 23), and ask him whether he is willing to take 
the wages that are due him, or to assume the re- 
sponsibility of " treading under foot the Son of 
God" by rejecting His offer of mercy (Heb. 
10: 28, 29). 

11. Those that Wish to be Saved 
This is the easiest class of all to deal with, but 
one needs to be as thorough with this class as 
with any other. Make sure that they under- 
stand what sin is, and their own guilt in the 
sight of God. Otherwise, salvation means but 
little to them, and their gratitude to Christ will 
be correspondingly small. 

I. Show the inquirer that he is a sinner. 
For this purpose use Isa. 53: 6, ** All we like 
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every 
one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all." 



72 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

From this it appears that having one's own 
way and refusing to walk in God's way is sin. 
It may not be vice or crime ; but it is sin, for it 
is disobedience to God. Furthermore, it is a sin 
to which we must all plead guilty. We have 
had our own way a hundred times when we 
knew it was wrong ; but we wanted it, and we 
had it, and now we must take the consequences. 

The immediate consequences are a sense of 
guilt from which we cannot escape, and a con- 
sciousness of aHenation from God, which is full 
of painful forebodings. Unless a reconciliation 
is brought about the breach between God and 
the sinner must inevitably grow wider, and 
finally end in eternal separation. "The soul 
that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18: 4). 
" And these shall go away into everlasting pun- 
ishment" (Matt. 25: 46). 

2. Show the provision that God has made for 
sin. Continue to use Isa. 53: 6, " And the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
By this we understand that God in His great 
mercy has laid upon His Son Jesus the punish- 
ment that belongs to us. He is the ** Lamb of 



How to Use the Bible 73 

God, which taketh away the sin of the world " 
(John I : 29), who " suffered for sins, the just 
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God " 
(i Pet. 3 : 18), *' who his own self bare our sins 
in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead 
to sins, should live unto righteousness " (i Pet. 
2 : 24). This crucified and risen Jesus is the 
one whom God has made our sin-bearer, and 
the moment we accept Him as such our sins rest 
no longer upon us, but upon Him. 

3. Show the inquirer how to make Jesus his 
Saviour, Jesus Christ is God's gift to a lost 
world. " God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten Son" (John 3: 16). The 
way to obtain a gift is to accept it. Offer the 
inquirer a tract, a pencil, or a piece of money, 
saying, *' I will give you this if you will accept 
it." After he has received it, show him that he 
can accept God's unspeakable gift in the same 
simple way, and just as quickly. As the gift 
became his the moment he accepted it, so Jesus 
becomes his Saviour the moment he accepts Him 
as such, and invites Him into his heart to take 
possession of his life. Furthermore, the coming 



74 n. Timothy 2 : 15 

of Jesus into his heart makes him a child of 
God. " As many as received him, to them gave 
he power to become the sons of God, even to 
them that beheve on his name" (John i : 12). 
It so changes his heart that he actually loves 
God's will better than his own. This is the 
miracle of the new birth, which none can under- 
stand, but which all can experience, if they will. 

4. Show the inquirer the duty of confessing 
Jesus Christ before the world, Rom. 10 : 9, 10, 
" If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as 
Lord, and shalt beheve in thy heart that God 
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 

5. Show the inquirer that his salvation rests 
not at all upon how he feels y but upon what God 
says. General George B. McClellan after his 
promotion wrote to his wife as follows : " My 
dear, I am a major-general. I do not realize it. 
I do not feel any different. I have not even got 
a uniform ; but I know it, because President 
Lincoln's commission lies on my table." So a 
child of God knows it because he has his Father's 
word for it (i John 5 : 13). 

6. Give him directions for the Christian life. 



How to Use the Bible 75 

Confess Christ often (Matt. 10: 32, 33). 
Read the Bible regularly (Psa. 119:1 1). 
Have a time and place for prayer (Isa. 40 : 31). 
Try to win others to Christ (J as. 5 : 20). 

III. Those that have Difficulties 
Do not belittle the difficulty, but try to put 
yourself in the place of the inquirer, and look at 
it from his viewpoint. Do not, however, allow 
the difficulty to obscure his need of Christ. 
This is the main question, and it should always 
be kept at the front. 

I. *' Afraid I cannot hold out'' The remedy 
in this case is to take the man's attention away 
from himself, and fix it upon the Lord Jesus, 
who alone can save him. Say to him : '* My 
dear friend, the question is not whether you can 
hold out, but whether or not God is able to 
save you. Let us see what He says about it." 
Opening your Bible, ask him to read aloud Heb. 
7: 25, ** Wherefore he is able also to save them 
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, 
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them." After he has read it say to him : " If 



76 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

God is able to save to the uttermost, there is 
certainly some hope for you. With an * utter- 
most ' salvation such as Christ offers, there are 
no hopeless cases, do you see? " 

** Yes, it does look a little more hopeful, I 
must confess ; but I am afraid I should fail if I 
started. My bump of persistence is not very 
prominent, and I am easily discouraged." 

*' That may be true, but do you know this 
' uttermost ' Saviour has made provision also to 
keep you from falling ? Read what He says in 
Jude 24. * Now unto him that is adle to keep 
you from fallings and to present you faultless be- 
fore the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.' 

" Isn't that splendid ? ' Able to keep you 
from falling, and to present you faultless.' 
' Blameless ' would mean a great deal, but with- 
out fault means much more. And that is the 
condition in which Christ promises that you 
shall be when He presents you before the Father. 
Now, does not your case seem hopeful, looking 
at it from God's standpoint ? " 

" Yes, I must admit that it does, but you see 
my case is peculiar. I had a grandfather who 



How to Use the Bible 77 

was a drunkard, and I have inherited from him an 
appetite for hquor. Occasionally an awful craving 
for strong drink comes upon me with irresistible 
power, and down I go before it. That is the 
real cause of my apprehension. If it were not 
for that, I think I could be saved ; but you see 
my case is pecuhar." 

** Yes, I see your case is peculiar, but do you 
know we have a peculiar Saviour ? In the first 
place, He was acquainted with that grandfather 
of yours, and He knows all about that appetite. 
In the second place. He has made ample pro- 
vision for it in the Book. Indeed, He has 
provided a special promise for just such cases. 
Read if you will i Cor. 10: 13, * God is faithful, 
who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
that ye are able ; but will with the temptation 
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able 
to bear it.' 

" Now let us sum it all up. Jesus says that 
He is able to save to the uttermost, and able to 
keep you from falling. But this is not all. He 
promises that He will present you before God so 
faultless and perfect that He Himself will be 



78 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

proud of you. Now what will you do ? Will 
you keep on trying to save yourself, and fail as 
you always have, or will you commit your soul 
to this * uttermost ' Saviour, who is able to 
save, and keep, and protect you from every 
foe ? " 

If the man is sincere in his desire to be a 
Christian, there is only one course, and usually 
he will accept it. 

2. " / have no feeling T Ask the inquirer 
what feeling he thinks is necessary in order to 
be saved. If he answers, " The joy that some 
Christians appear to have," explain to him that 
their joy is the result of accepting Christ, and 
that he cannot expect to have it until he does 
the same. Read Gal. 5 : 22 to him, and show 
him that the fruit of the Spirit is not possible 
until one has received the Holy Spirit. If he 
complains that he has no sorrow for sin, show 
him from Isa. 55:7 that what God requires is 
that he forsake sin, and ask him whether he is 
willing to do that. 

3. " Too great a sinner!' Have the inquirer 
read i Tim. 1:15, and show him that, if Christ 



How to Use the Bible 79 

saved the chief of sinners, He can save him also. 
Luke 19: 10 and Isa. i : 18 are helpful verses. 

IV. Those that have Tried and Failed 

Backsliders may be divided into three classes. 

I. Those that have never been converted ^ but 
once considered themselves Christians, The 
churches are full of people that at some time 
received a religious impulse, and who perhaps 
expressed their purpose to lead a Christian life, 
but who never really received Christ. 

Such people must be shown in a kind and 
loving way that they have been mistaken, or 
they will never be willing to make another trial. 
It is well to point out some of the evidences of 
the new birth, and let them see that they have 
never experienced it. 

Rom. 8 : i shows that the Christian is de- 
hvered from the guilt of sin. Ask them whether 
they have ever been wholly free from a sense of 
guilt, and for what reason, i John 3: 14 proves 
that we have passed from death unto life because 
we love the brethren. I John 3:21, 22 shows 
that an obedient Christian will have answers to 



8o 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

prayer, i John 4: 13 ensures the fellowship of 
the Holy Spirit. Test a person with such 
passages, and he will soon recognize his true 
position. 

2. The second class consists of those that have 
drifted away from God by disobedience^ and 
are not anxious to return. They are like the 
prodigal before his money was spent. They are 
living a worldly hfe, and as long as health and 
prosperity continue they get along fairly well 
without God, though they have many rebukes of 
conscience and frequent longings for the good 
old days of fellowship with God. 

With such people Jer. 2 : 5 is a good verse. 
Ask them what fault they could find with God 
that they have wandered from Him. Jer. 2:13 
is also good. Ask them whether it is not true 
that their present life is evil and bitter as com- 
pared with the fellowship and joy that God pro- 
vides for those who obey Him. 

3. Backsliders that are tired of sin, and are 
anxious to return to God. They are like the 
prodigal after his money is spent and after 
months of hunger and loneliness in the far 



How to Use the Bible 8l 

country. For such Hos. 14:1, 4 is a good 
passage. ** O Israel, return unto the Lord thy 
God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." ** I 
will heal their backshding, I will love them 
freely; for mine anger is turned away from 
him." 

The most effective passage, however, is Luke 
15 : 11-24. This not only pictures the wretched 
condition of the backsUder, but it shows the 
steps by which he must return and the royal 
reception that awaits him. No one needs pity 
more than the backshder. He is despised by 
the world, he is a reproach to the church, he is 
aUenated from God, and he condemns himself. 

V. Those that Think They have Committed 
THE Unpardonable Sin 

Show from Mark 3 : 29, 30 that the sin for 
which there is no forgiveness is that of attribut- 
ing to the devil the work done by the Holy 
Spirit. Then ask them whether they have ever 
been guilty of this sin. 

If they quote Heb. 6 : 4-6, explain to them 
that this passage refers to a class of people that 



82 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

were in danger of rejecting Christ wholly and 
going back to the forms of Judaism, and the 
writer is showing that, if they throw away Christ, 
there is no other hope for them. The difficulty 
is not on God's side at all, but on theirs. 

Having explained these two passages, ask the 
inquirer to read John 6 : 37, *« Him that cometh 
to me I will in no wise cast out," and keep press- 
ing him with the question, *' Are you willing to 
come ? Never mind how you feel, or what you 
think, are you willing to come ? " 



How to Use the Bible 83 



Questions 

Why are some people so unconcerned about 
their spiritual condition ? 

How can we determine whether it is real or ap- 
parent ? 

Does conscience ever die ? 

What Scripture would you use with this class ? 

Show how you would apply the Scripture. 

What is sin ? 

What provision has God made for sin ? 

If God has laid on His Son the iniquities of us 
all, why are so many still under condemnation ? 

How can a sinner make Jesus his Saviour ? 

Why is it necessary to confess Christ before the 
world ? 

When a person is forgiven, where does the 
transaction take place ? 

What is the witness of the Spirit ? 

How can one make a success of the Christian 
life? 

How would you deal with the man that is afraid 
he cannot hold out ? 

How would you deal with one that ** has no 
feeHng " ? 



84 n. Timothy 2:15 

What is the remedy for *' a great sinner " ? 

Name three classes of backsliders. 

How would you deal with each class ? 

How would you deal with those that think they 
have committed the unpardonable sin ? 



CHAPTER V 

HOW TO USE THE m^LE {Continued) 

I. Those that Offer Excuses 
I. " Not now!' As usual, let us consider first 
the cause and then the cure. Perhaps there is 
some habit that must be abandoned, or some 
companion that must be dropped, or some un- 
pleasant duty that must be done. It may be 
only the natural inertia of the soul, which shrinks 
from grapphng with a subject so serious ; but 
more likely there is some secret sin, which the 
man is unwilling to abandon. The real cause is, 
that the man is not willing to surrender his will 
to God. He wants his own way, and he flatters 
himself that he will yield to God by and by ; but 
he is not willing to do it now. 

Whatever the cause, the cure is always the 
same — God's word. Ask the man by whom he 
expects to be saved if he is ever saved. He will 
answer, " God alone can save me." Emphasize 

85 



86 11. Timothy 2:15 

that thought by having him read aloud John 
6 : 44, " No man can come to me, except the 
Father that sent me draw him/' Call his atten- 
tion to 

Gods Command 
Acts 17: 30, God "now commandeth all men 
everywhere to repent." After he has read the 
verse ask him whether God has a right to make 
such a command. Ask him whether he, who is 
dependent on God for salvation, has the audacity 
to refuse to obey this plain command. Show 
him the consequences of such a refusal (Prov. 
i: 24-28). 

Gods Time 
2 Cor. 6 : 2, " Behold, now is the acceptable 
time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
Show him that there must be some moment of 
definite surrender to God, and that no lapse of 
time will make that surrender any easier. In- 
deed, it will grow harder as the years pass by ; 
and, if he puts it off, the chances are that he will 
never do it. 



How to Use the Bible 87 

The Uncertainty of Life 
Prov. 2T \ I, ** Boast not thyself of to-morrow, 
for thou knowest not what a day may bring 
forth." Show him that in putting off repentance 
he is reckoning upon the continuance of hfe, 
which is entirely uncertain. Remember that 
Satan is persuading him in his subtle way to 
wait a little longer. The old serpent does not 
dare suggest that he never repent, or even that 
he put it off a long time; but he cunningly says, 
" Not now." 

Occasionally a soul may be won by taking the 
devil's side of the argument, and pleading his 
cause so boldly that the absurdity of his reason- 
ing is apparent. A friend of mine was asked to 
speak to a young man with whom many had 
labored in vain. Meeting him alone one day, he 
said to him, " These people in the hotel are 
bothering you a good deal on the subject of re- 
ligion, are they not?" The man blushed, and 
admitted that he had been somewhat annoyed. 
Then followed a conversation something like 
this: 

** You don't need to give any thought to this 



88 II. Timothy 2:15 

matter for a long time yet. You had better put 
it off for at least a couple of years, don't you 
think so ? " 

" I am not sure it would be well to put it off 
so long as that." 

''Why not?" 

" Because I might not live two years." 

"That is true. Well, put it off one year. 
That is safe enough, is it not ? " 

** No, I don't suppose it is entirely safe, for I 
might die in one year." 

Thus my friend reduced the time until he 
made the man admit that he was not sure of a 
day. Then he said, " If you are not sure of even 
a single day, hadn't you better give your heart 
to the Lord now ? " And he did, right then and 
there. 

2. ^* Hypocrites in the church!' In deahng 
with those that complain of the hypocrites in the 
church it is well to open your Bible to Matt. 
7:1, and ask them to read it. " Judge not, that 
ye be not judged." Also show them Rom. 
14 : 12, " So then every one of us shall give ac- 
count of himself to God." 



How to Use the Bible 89 

Ask the objector whether it ever occurred to 
him that he was a hypocrite himself, and, when 
he answers in the negative, say to him : " Well, 
let us see. You condemn the hypocrites be- 
cause they pretend to be what they are not ? '* 

'* I do." 

" But, when you claim that the reason why 
you are not a Christian is because of the hypo- 
crites in the church, you are pretending what is 
not true. The real reason why you do not be- 
come a Christian is because you want your own 
way, and are not wiUing to obey God. And, 
when you say it is because of the hypocrites, you 
are saying what is not true, and you know it. 

" Admitting that there are hypocrites in the 
church, what is that to you ? If every man in 
the church was a hypocrite, would that excuse 
you from the duty of repentance ? 

" If there was a call for volunteers to defend 
this country, would you stay out of the army be- 
cause some bad men would probably enlist ? " 

'* I suppose not." 

" Possibly you are a Mason or an Odd Fellow. 
Are there any black sheep in your lodge ? " 



go 11. Timothy 2:15 

" I must confess that there are a few." 

" And yet you joined the lodge, knowing this 
fact ; and you urge others to do the same ? " 

" That is true/' 

" Why, then, do you offer so silly an excuse 
when the subject of religion arises ? If you do 
not wish to be a Christian, say so in a manly 
way, but do not try to hide yourself behind the 
faults of others. The only safe hiding-place for 
a sinner is the cross of Christ, and you will real- 
ize it some day." 

Among the " Little Preachers " referred to in 
Chapter VI. is a capital one for the people that 
are always complaining about the hypocrites in 
the church. On the one side is the question, 
" Do those hypocrites hinder you ? " On the 
other side is the following : 

" Remember — When the church goes through 
the pearly gates, those hypocrites will be left on 
the outside of the gate, on your side, unless you 
repent ; and you will have to spend all eternity 
with them. Would it not be better to repent, 
and live with them a few years in the church, 
than to spend all eternity with them elsewhere ? 




How to Use the Bible 91 

You must spend some time with those hypo- 
crites somewhere. Where shall it be ? " 

If one will scatter these freely, all the excuse- 
makers in town will close their mouths forever 
on the subject of hypocrites. 

3. " / have no time for religion^ When a 
man offers this excuse, it means that he is not 
interested. He has all the time there is ; and, if 
he considered his salvation a matter of much im- 
portance, he would take time for it. He may be 
so crowded with business and home cares that he 
cannot attend many meetings, but that need not 
prevent him from being a Christian. 

When one offers the lack of time as an excuse 
for not being a Christian, it is well to show him 
by some simple illustration that this is not the 
real reason. Say to him, " If, in addition to 
your regular work you had an opportunity to 
earn ten dollars each week by one hour of extra 
work, would you accept the offer ? " 

He will doubtless answer, *' I think I would." 

" In other words, if you want time for some- 
thing extra, you manage to find it. You see, my 
friend, the simple fact is that you do not feel the 



92 II. Timothy 2:15 

need of salvation, and you are not interested in 
it. You are in the condition described in 
Eph. 4: 18, 'Being darkened in their under- 
standing, alienated from the life of God, because 
of the ignorance that is in them, because of the 
hardening of their heart/ Why not face the 
fact, disagreeable as it may be ; and, when people 
ask you why you are not a Christian, give them 
the real reason instead of offering a false one ? " 

Remind him also that rehgion does not consist 
of sermons and prayer-meetings, but in main- 
taining a certain attitude toward God, which 
attitude he can assume in a moment, and main- 
tain in the midst of the busiest life. Repentance 
toward God and love to one's fellow men do 
not conflict with any one's duty, nor are they 
a waste of time. On the contrary, they save 
time, and sweeten toil, and enrich the whole life. 

4. " Too much to give upy Use Mark 8 : 36 
and Ps. 84 : 11. 

Show that what one gives up for Christ is 
nothing compared with what one gains, and that 
in the end it costs rriore not to be a Christian 
than it does to serve Christ. 



How to Use the Bible 93 

It does cost something to be a Christian, it is 
true. It may cost the sacrifice of some pleasure, 
a few companions, some money ; but not to be a 
Christian will cost the loss of peace and joy un- 
speakable. The Christless soul must some day 
part forever from all his dear ones that have 
chosen Christ. It will cost him his soul. It will 
cost him heaven. Can he afford to pay the 
price ? " What shall it profit a man if he gain 
the whole world, and lose his own soul ? " 

5. " Cannot give up my evil habits!' 

{a) You must, or perish (Rom. 6 : 23 ; Gal. 
6: 7.8). 

(^) You can, for God says so (Heb. 7 : 25 ; 
I Cor. 10: 13). 



II. Those that are Troubled with Doubts 

It is not strange that men are doubters. Sin 
has so bhnded our moral vision that we do not 
see the truth as it is, but in a distorted fashion, 
which makes it less attractive. '* The natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
God ; for they are foolishness unto him ; neither 



94 11. Timothy 2:15 

can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned'' ( I Cor. 2: 14). 

Furthermore, the truth as it is in Jesus carries 
with it condemnation for the sinner, and no one 
enjoys reproof or rebuke. As the lawyer, willing 
to justify himself, said, " Who is my neighbor? " 
so the natural heart questions the authority of 
the Bible, and even the existence of God, rather 
than confess its sin. 

In dealing with doubters it is important to 
ascertain their real position. Some sceptics are 
mere triflers, who are too indolent to grapple with 
the truth in a resolute way, and so find it easier 
to doubt and drift with the current of their 
natural inclinations. Others use their scepti- 
cism as a cover for an ungodly life. 

Remind them that to doubt the Bible does not 
alter the facts that it reveals, but it does subject 
them to the charge of making God a liar (i John 
5 : 10), and it puts them under condemnation. 
" He that believeth not is condemned already, 
because he hath not believed in the name of the 
only begotten Son of God. And this is the 
condemnation, that light is come into the world. 



How to Use the Bible 95 

and men loved darkness rather than light, be- 
cause their deeds were evil " (John 3: 18, 19). 

It is said that a vessel once sighted an enemy 
just at sundown, and kept up a cannonade until 
the darkness put a stop to it. When the sun 
arose the next morning, they were chagrined to 
find that the supposed enemy was an immense 
rock, which still remained intact after many hours 
of bombarding. So in all ages men have been 
demolishing the Bible as the enemy of the human 
race ; but the old Book still stands, silent, but 
solid as the Rock of Ages. For trifling sceptics 
John 8: 21, 24 is very good as showing the 
consequences of unbehef, while John 5 : 40 dis- 
closes the origin of their scepticism, '' Ye will 
not come to me, that ye might have life." 

There is another class of doubters, who are 
really desirous of knowing the truth. As some 
one has expressed it, " He wishes there was a 
God to whom he could come as a child to his 
father ; but he does not know whether there is or 
not, and he wants to know. For such people 
there are two paths to the light, the intellectual 
and the moral. The first begins with the known, 



96 11. Timothy 2:15 

and argues its way to the unknown. The crea- 
tion proves a Creator. Intelligent and moral 
beings imply a Creator capable of producing 
such. 

The other method starts with the distinction 
between right and wrong, which we all know, 
and which no moral man can doubt. Into this 
world has come Jesus of Nazareth. He meets 
our ideals ; He commends Himself to our con- 
sciences; He commands our will. If we take 
His life and follow it, His teachings and obey 
them, we shall soon find our way into the light. 
" I am the light of the world : he that foUoweth 
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the 
Hght of life " (John 8 : 12). " If any man willeth 
to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, 
whether it is of God, or whether I speak from 
myself" (John 7: 17). 

I. Doubt whether the Bible is the word of 
God. The most natural inquiry that arises at 
the outset is this : " What does the Bible say of 
itself? "2 Tim. 3: 16, 17. 

Moses gives an account of his personal inter- 
view with Jehovah, and the giving of the Ten 



1 



How to Use the Bible 97 

Commandments, which he was told to announce 
to the people ; and these same commandments 
are the basis of all civil law to-day. 

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel give in 
detail the story of their call to the prophetic 
office, and introduce their messages with such 
expressions as " Thus saith the Lord," or " The 
word of the Lord came to me, saying." 

Paul describes his conversion and call to be a 
special minister unto the Gentiles. 

Peter assures us that he was an eye-witness of 
Christ's majesty on the mount, while John gives 
abundant proof of both his abihty and his 
authority to witness concerning Jesus Christ. 

Our Saviour declares that He dwells in the 
bosom of the Father, and that He alone can 
reveal the Father to men. He tells us that, 
though the heavens and earth pass away, His 
words shall not pass away. He sets His seal 
upon the Old Testament (Matt. 5:18, Luke 
24 : 27, 44) and guarantees the accuracy of the 
New Testament (John 14: 26). 

To the objection that science contradicts the 
statements of the Bible, and so destroys its 



98 II. Timothy 2:15 

authority as a revelation of God's will, it may be 
said that Professor Dana of Yale University, and 
Professor Agassiz of Harvard University, the 
two most eminent scientists that America has 
produced, both testified to the day of their death 
that they knew of nothing in science that 
invaUdated in the least degree the teachings of 
God's word. 

Consider the unity of the Bible. 

Here are sixty-six books written by about 
forty different people in three different lan- 
guages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and ex- 
tending over a period of about fifteen hundred 
years, and yet there is a unity of thought and 
purpose running through all these books that is 
utterly unexplainable on any other ground than 
that they were inspired by one Master Mind. 

Notice the fulfilment of prophecy. 

Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ was 
born, aflfirms that He will be born of a virgin 
(Isa. 7 : 14). Micah declares that His birth- 
place will be Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2); Jeremiah, 
that He will come from the family of David ; 
Isaiah says that His name shall be called 



How to Use the Bible 99 

" Wonderful " ; Daniel, that His dominion shal 
be world-wide ; and Isaiah, that He shall be de- 
spised and rejected of men. 

Many of the details of our Lord's death and 
burial are described minutely, and even the 
words He uttered on the cross are given. (See 
Isa. S3 and Ps. 22: i, 8, 18.) Our Saviour Him- 
self foretold His resurrection again and again 
(Matt. 12:40; 16:21 ; John 2: 19). 

Explain the Jew 

The Emperor of Germany once asked his 
minister to give him in one word the strongest 
argument for the inspiration of the Bible, and 
the answer was, ** The Jew, your majesty." 

Yes, the Jew, the puzzle of the ages, the 
" People of the Restless P'eet." How shall we 
account for their scattered condition ? God 
gave them their land, and why are they not 
there? They have ability, money, and power 
far surpassing many nations. Why could they 
not hold their own ? Because they are under 
the curse of God for rejecting His Son and their 
Messiah. 



lOO 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

The Argument from Experience 

The daily miracle of sinners transformed by 
the power of the gospel into saints is an un- 
answerable argument. Every evangelist or 
personal worker knows what it is to see 
gamblers, drunkards, and all sorts of sinners 
converted by a single passage of God's 
word, and proving their sincerity by years 
of faithful service. What is that but a mir- 
acle? 

2. Doubt of the divinity of Christ. Call 
attention to the following facts, and ask the 
doubter to read carefully and without prejudice 
the passages of Scripture. 

{a) Prophecies relating to Christ which were 
uttered hundreds of years before He was born 
(Ps. 16:9-11; 22:1, 8, 18; 68:18; Isa. 
7:14; 9: 1-6; 40:9-11; 53). 

{p) Divine titles ascribed to Christ (Heb. 
1 : 8). John 20 : 28, " Thomas answered and 
said unto him, my Lord and my God ; " and 
Jesus did not rebuke him. 

(c) In Heb. 1:3, 10, the creation of the 
world is ascribed to Christ. 



How to Use the Bible loi 

{d) Scriptures that teach that Jesus Christ 
be worshipped as God (Heb. i : 6, John 5 : 23, 
Phil. 2:10). 

{e) Jesus distinctly claims to be equal with 
God, and to be entitled to the same honor and 
adoration (John 10:30; 14:9). When the 
high priest asked Him on His trial whether He 
were the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, Jesus 
answered, " I am " (Mark 14 : 62). 

(/) I John 2 : 22, 23 shows that whoever 
denies the divinity of Jesus is a liar. 

{g) The position that many take that Jesus 
is simply a good man, but not divine, is unten- 
able. Either He was what He claimed to be, or 
else He was the greatest impostor that the world 
has ever seen. That He was not an impostor is 
demonstrated by two things. First, His resur- 
rection from the dead, which is the best-attested 
fact in history. Secondly, that He was not an 
impostor is shown by the influence that His life 
and teaching have had upon the world, trans- 
forming the lives of millions, making bad men 
good, and good men better, converting drunk- 
ards and murderers and libertines into saints, and 



102 11. Timothy 2:15 

leading multitudes out of idolatry and sin into 
the Hght and liberty of the gospel. 

III. Those that Entertain False Hopes 

1. Hope of being saved by good works, 

(a) Show that in God's sight the man is not 
righteous (Rom. 3 : 10, 23). 

(b) Even if he were righteous, that is not 
God's way of saving men (Gal. 2 : 16). 

(c) The only sure hope of salvation is by 
faith (John 3 : 16; i John 5 : 4). 

2. God is too good to damn any one. 

(a) Show that the purpose of God's goodness 
is to lead to repentance (Rom. 2 : 4, 5). 

(b) Show that God does not damn any one, 
but men damn themselves in spite of God's good- 
ness (2 Pet. 3 : 9-1 1 ; John 5 : 40). 

(c) Show that the sinner is condemned al- 
ready (2 Pet. 2: 4-6; John 3: 18, 19). 

3. Hope of being saved by church-member- 
ship. Use Matt. 7 : 21-23 ; John 3 : 3. 



i 



How to Use the Bible 103 



Questions 

How would you deal with the excuse, " Not 
now " ? 

Why cannot one choose his own time for be- 
coming a Christian ? 

How meet the ** hypocrite " excuse ? 

What does " No time for reUgion " really mean ? 

How much does it cost to become a Christian ? 

How much not to be a Christian ? 

How would you deal with one that says he can- 
not give up his evil habits ? 

Give reasons why people doubt the supernatural. 

How would you deal with triflers ? 

With honest doubters ? 

How do we know that the Bible is the word of 
God? 

Which is the strongest proof? 

Name seven lines of proof for the divinity of 
Christ. 

How would you deal with those that hope to be 
saved by good works ? 

Those that are relying on God's goodness for sal- 
vation ? 

Those that hope to be saved by church-member- 
ship? 



CHAPTER VI 

SOUL-WINNING BY LETTERS AND LITERA- 
TURE 

Few people realize how much Christian work 
can be accomplished by letter-writing. In some 
cases a letter is better even than words, for it 
can be read and reread, and pondered at one's 
leisure. Henry Clay Trumbull says that he was 
led to Christ by a personal appeal from a friend 
in a letter. What preaching and the ordinary 
forms of church-work had not accomplished for 
him was done by a few sentences in a note. As 
he reflected upon this, he began to realize the 
importance of individual work for individuals, 
and all his life long he engaged in this form of 
effort. 

A prominent business man in Worcester, 
Mass., went to his pastor, and said that he should 
like to unite with the church. When asked how 
long he had been a Christian, he replied that he 
had taken the step only a few days ago, and that 

104 



Soul- Winning by Letters 105 

he had been led to do this at the request of a 
lady, who had written him on the subject. He 
said that sermons had not made much impression 
on him, but that this letter from a person that he 
hardly knew appealed to him so strongly that 
he could not resist it. 

Why should not Christians aim to make their 
correspondence count for the Master as well as 
their conversation ? There might be some let- 
ters in which it would not be advisable to intro- 
duce the subject of rehgion ; but, on the other 
hand, if the subject were uppermost in one's 
mind, opportunities would frequently be found to 
say a word for Christ, or drop a hint, or enclose 
a leaflet. 

I know a business man who was writing a let- 
ter one day when he saw a tract on his table. 
He enclosed it, and mailed the letter without 
much thought. Then the devil whispered to 
him : " You have made a fool of yourself. What 
do you suppose that man will think of you for 
putting a tract into a business letter ? " 

Being a Christian, he lifted his heart in prayer 
to God, saying, *' Lord, did I make a mistake ? " 



io6 IL Timothy 2 : 15 

Back came the answer, " What is to hinder you 
from putting a tract into every letter you write ? " 

** By the grace of God I will/' he replied, and 
for the remainder of his life he followed this 
practice. He saw so much good coming from 
this kind of effort that finally he withdrew from 
business, and devoted his life to writing letters 
and sending out Christian literature of various 
kinds. Not every one can do as this man did, 
but all can do something if they will make the 
effort, and pray for tact and guidance in it. 

I know a lady that, to help a drinking man, 
took him into her family as a boarder. Soon 
he committed some misdemeanor, and was sent 
to prison. She did not forsake him in his dis- 
grace; but, remembering the Master's words, 
** I was sick and in prison, and ye visited me," 
she endeavored to help him by writing encourag- 
ing letters. Soon other prisoners requested that 
she write to them, and by degrees this work in- 
creased until finally she was writing between two 
and three hundred letters a year to the inmates 
of different prisons. I have heard her say that 
there are to-day eight pastors of churches who 



Soul- Winning by Letters 107 

were converted through her correspondence 
while they were in State prison. Murderers, in- 
fidels, and hardened men of all kinds have been 
led to Christ by this humble woman through her 
prayers and letters. 

A student at the Moody Bible Institute, who 
works in a business office until twelve o'clock 
each night in order to support his family, has a 
class of fifteen boys in Sunday-school. He writes 
a letter to each boy every week, and the class is 
growing so fast that he is now looking for an 
assistant teacher. 

The Use of Literature 
The indiscriminate use of tracts by those 
whose zeal exceeds their wisdom has led many 
good people to question their value. It is foolish, 
however, to allow our prejudice against poor 
tracts to blind us to the value of good ones, and 
good ones can be had. The choicest thoughts 
of the best writers can now be found in leaflet 
form, and many a soul has been awakened by 
one of these silent messengers that God has put 
into the hand at just the right moment. 



lo8 II. Timothy 2:15 

A man stepped into a street-car in New York, 
and before taking his seat gave to each passenger 
a Httle card bearing the words, ** Look to Jesus 
when tempted, when troubled, when dying." 
One of the passengers carefully read the card, 
and put it into his pocket. As he left the car, 
he said to the giver : " Sir, when you gave me 
this card I was on my way to the ferry, intending 
to jump from the boat and drown myself. The 
death of my wife and son had robbed me of all 
desire to live, but this card has persuaded me to 
begin life anew. Good day, and God bless you." 

There is no such thing as chance in this world, 
and those that seek to be led by the Spirit often 
find themselves messengers of mercy to some 
weary soul. A lady once travelled two hundred 
miles to tell the writer personally how a card that 
he had given her had led to her conversion. It 
lay in her bureau drawer, bearing its silent testi- 
mony from time to time as she read it, until 
finally it led her to Christ. 

Some ministers make constant use of leaflets 
in their pastoral work. They open the way for 
conversation, and often they are better than 



Soul- Winning by Letters 109 

words ; for a soul under conviction is sometimes 
disposed to quarrel, but one cannot quarrel with 
a tract. It never loses its temper, never answers 
back, and it sticks to what it has said. Besides, 
you can send a leaflet into many places where 
you cannot go yourself. 

People in sorrow or sickness love to be re- 
membered, and boys think more of a minister 
that occasionally gives them a bright leaflet. A 
man wrote to me that in a town where he had 
used " Why a Boy Should Be a Christian " 
forty-five people on their examination for church- 
membership testified that they attributed their 
conversion mainly to that leaflet. 

Housekeepers can use tracts to good advantage. 
Lay them on the parlor table that callers may 
read them while waiting. Often there is time 
enough for one to be converted while a lady is 
finishing her toilet. Give them to the milkman, 
the grocer, the postman ; enclose them in letters, 
library books, and packages. 

Business men have fine opportunities for this 
kind of work. A man once said, " I cannot speak 
in meeting ; but, if you will supply me with 



110 11. Timothy 2 ; 15 

choice reading-matter, I will pay for it and enclose 
it in the packages which go out of my store." 

Recently a customer uttered an oath in a New 
York business house. The proprietor quietly 
handed him a *' Little Preacher " card entitled, 
" Why Do You Swear ? " 

The man read it ; tears came to his eyes ; and 
he said, " I beg your pardon, sir." 

" Never mind me," said the other, " but don't 
you think you had better ask God's pardon ? It 
was His name that you profaned." 

" I will do it, sir," said the man, and shook his 
hand warmly. 

It is not an easy matter to rebuke a swearer, 
but any one can say, " Here is a leaflet that you 
may find helpful ; " or he can mail one to every 
profane person whom he knows. 

Teachers can make good use of leaflets. 
Those that cannot talk with their pupils can put 
into their hands the wise words of others. Old- 
fashioned tracts will not do for boys. They 
want something that sparkles with life, that 
rivets the attention, and that stops when it gets 
there. 



I 



Soul-Winning by Letters ill 

This is a busy age, we all know. People have 
not time, or think that they have not, to read 
books on religion; but, if you put into their 
hands something that is attractive, interesting, 
and that can be read in a few minutes, it is sure 
of attention. I am convinced that any one can 
easily multiply his influence twentyfold by a 
wise use of printer's ink. 

Never give away a tract unless you know its 
contents. Use all the tact you have, and pray 
for more. 

An old man said to a train-boy, " No, I do 
not want your pop-corn ; don't you see I haven't 
any teeth ? " 

" Buy some gum-drops, then, nice fresh gum- 
drops." 

That boy knew how to adapt himself to his 
customers, and so should we. Occasionally se- 
lect a good tract, and print on it the name of 
your church or Sunday-school, with an invitation 
to attend the services ; then canvass the whole 
neighborhood, leaving a tract at every house. 

A physician told me recently that three times 
in three different cities, and at intervals of about 



112 11. Timothy 2 : 15 * 

a year, some one put into his pocket without his 
knowledge a Httle blue card containing the 
words, ** Have you a home in heaven, where the 
angels are, and where your mother is ? " etc. 
The first two cards set him thinking ; but the 
third came at a time when he had just lost his 
mother, and it led him to Christ. No one of the 
three people knew that they were supplementing 
one another's work, and yet they were. None 
of the three ever knew that any good came from 
the card that he dropped into the stranger's 
pocket ; but the man knew, and God knew, and 
that was enough. We shall never know all the 
good that comes from this kind of silent preach- 
ing, but we know enough to make it almost 
criminal for us to neglect it. 

It is a great aid in opening conversation with 
strangers to have with you a variety of leaflets or 
gospel cards. You can hand one to a person, 
saying, " Should you like something to read ? " 
If he does not express an opinion, you can give 
him another, saying, " This one is a little differ- 
ent," or, " Here is one that I think you will en- 
joy." By this means you gradually become ac- 



Soul-Winning by Letters 113 

quainted, and by and by you can give him one 
that presents the way of salvation plainly, and ask 
him whether he has accepted Christ as his Saviour. 

A good series of cards for this purpose is sold 
by the Bible Institute Colportage Association, 
826 La Salle Avenue, Chicago, 111.^ They are 
called " Little Preachers," and are all that the 
name implies. Even an inexperienced worker 
can use these efifectively, for they do the talking 
for him. They are dainty white cards printed in 
different colors, containing bright and pithy 
questions, followed by Scripture answers. There 
are thirty varieties suited to all classes, and they 
cost one dollar a thousand, assorted. 

One of the most common conditions that we 
find is that of profound ignorance of what the 
Christian life is. The writer one day gave a card 
to a lady that was sitting in the seat with him on 
the cars. She seemed interested ; and so he gave 
her another, and another. By and by he asked 
whether she was a Christian. She replied that 
she did not know. 

^ The same firm carries a line of choice leaflets suitable for 
personal work, written by the author of this book. 



114 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

** But you would know if you were asked 
whether you were American or French ? " 

" Certainly." 

" What is your idea of the Christian Hfe ? " 

" I suppose that, if I tried as hard as I could 
to do right, I should be a Christian." 

" Is that what the Bible teaches ? " 

" I do not know." 

" Should you like to know ? " 

" I certainly should." 

He then gave her another " Little Preacher " 
entitled *' Only Three Steps into the Christian 
Life." She was ready to take those three steps 
then and there, and went on her way rejoicing. 

Sitting in a hotel in Denver, I was reading a 
newspaper. By my side sat a young man talk- 
ing with two others. Soon he uttered an oath. 
Taking out a little card entitled " Why Do You 
Swear ? " I laid it down on the arm of the chair 
between us, and went on reading. He picked it 
up, and read it. As soon as his companions left, 
he said to me : " My friend, that is the best thing 
on swearing I ever saw. It is an awful habit, I 
. know, and I ought not to do it ; but you see I 



Soul- Winning by Letters 115 

am a newspaper man on the Chicago Inter- 
Ocean, I am thrown in with a rough crowd, 
and I cannot seem to overcome the habit." He 
then went on to tell me about himself, and we 
had a long heart-to-heart talk. Remember, he 
began the conversation, and he did most of the 
talking. I simply laid down the little card, and 
improved the opportunity when the way opened. 

On another occasion I handed a little card to 
a man, asking whether he would like something 
to read. On it he saw the word " Christian," and 
at once he said with a sneer, " * Christian ' ; yes, 
I have neighbors who are Christians, and I have 
some who are not ; and the latter are more 
neighborly and more honorable in business every 
time." 

" That may be," I said, " but remember that it 
is not their religion that makes your neighbors 
mean and dishonorable, but the lack of it ; and it 
is not fair to blame Jesus Christ for what does 
not belong to Him." Then I added, " It may 
be that you do not feel the need of a Saviour 
now, but the time will surely come when you 
will feel it." 



1 1 6 II. TimoAy 2:15 

" I guess I need Him enough now. My wife 
died ab: :: a year ago, and since then I have 
lost my -£. ghter. My home is broken up, and 
I haven't an}^thing left to live for." 

The man's voice tren.bled, and the teais began 
to come. I saw that I had touched a tender 
chord, and I said, " My friend, if there is any one 
on this ear::. :':.i: r.eeis Jesus Christ, I think you 
are the man. Then I held up Christ as a com- 
forter, and told him how willing Christ was to 
come into his sad heart and make it glad, and 
into his desolate home and make it bright with 
heavenly hopes. Then, taking it for granted 
that he did not know how to find Christ, I went 
on to explain the way of salvation. Then I said, 
•* Now, my firiend, with this understanding of 
what it is to become a Christian, are you willing 
to accept Christ as your Sa\iour right here and 
now, and give me your hand on it ? " 

*' Yes, sir, I am," he repUed; and he grasped 
my hand heartily. Then we removed our hats . 
and I prayed, and he prayed, after which he gave 
me his name and told me all about himself. This 
VTRS at a count}' fair in the midst of noise and 



Soul-Winning by Letters 117 

confusion. Horses were racing, fakers were 
shouting, and the merry-go-round was in full 
blast. And yet in the midst of that surging 
crowd this man with bared head stood confess- 
ing his sins to God and inviting Jesus Christ to 
come into his heart. 



li8 II. Timothy 2 : 15 



Questions 

Why is a letter often more effective than the 
spoken word ? 

How can we make our correspondence count for 
the Master? 

What classes of people especially appreciate a 
letter of interest or sympathy ? 

Suggest suitable mottoes, verses, or letter-heads 
that silently witness for Christ. 

What advantages do tracts possess over conver- 
sation ? 

What classes of people can use them to ad- 
vantage ? 

Give your experience in the use of leaflets. 

Name some of the best tracts you know. 

How are tracts useful in opening religious con- 
versation ? 

May they not be just as useful in closing it ? 

How can they be used in correspondence, in 
visitation, in Sunday-school, at county fairs, 
factories, and open-air meetings ? 



CHAPTER VII 

HOW TO BRING TO DECISION— INSTRUC- 
TION OF CONVERTS— IMPORTANCE 
OF JOINING THE CHURCH 

Some time ago one of the largest insurance 
companies in the world advertised for one hun- 
dred agents "who could bring men to decision." 
This company had thousands of cases pend- 
ing where the local agent had interested a 
man, and almost persuaded him, but was not 
quite able to secure a decision. Hence the need 
of trained specialists, who have such skill in 
massing arguments and meeting objections that 
the ordinary man is unable to resist them. Men 
of signal ability in this direction are in great de- 
mand, and can practically name their own salary. 

It may seem a great achievement to write an 

insurance policy for ;g 100,000, but it is a far 

greater achievement to lead a soul to accept 

Christ as his Saviour (Jas. 5 : 20). There is no 

Christian that may not hope to lead some souls 

119 



120 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

to Christ each year, if he will claim the promise 
of Him who said, *' Follow me, and I will make 
you fishers of men." 

In leading one to decision it is important to 
separate the main question from all side issues. 
Let the inquirer see clearly that what you ask 
him to do is not to join a church, or to believe a 
certain creed, or even to improve his life, but to 
accept Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. 
This^ and this aloney is the question. 

All efforts to divert attention to side issues 
should be met by saying kindly yet firmly, 
** Yes, that may be so, but the question which 
you have to decide now is simply this : Will 
you, or will you not accept Jesus Christ as your 
Saviour ? " 

If the person has children, he can sometimes 
be persuaded to accept Christ for his children's 
sake. A wife will often agree to decide if her 
husband does, and this is an additional argument 
to use with him. Occasionally a group of 
friends, if approached separately, will each 
promise to accept Christ in case the others do. 
These are not the highest motives ; but they are 



How to Bring to Decision 121 

sometimes sufficient to secure the desired result, 
and are useful when other methods fail. 

In talking with an unsaved person avoid all 
denominational differences. In fact, avoid con- 
troversy of every kind, remembering that people 
are not driven into the Kingdom by argument, 
but rather won by persuasion. It is quite possi- 
ble to win the argument and lose your man. 
Keep constantly in the spirit of prayer. Be on 
the lookout for any remark that may be used as 
a starting-point for a heart-to-heart talk, and 
often you will find that this is a door of oppor- 
tunity that God has opened. Do not force your 
views upon him; but try to draw out his views, 
and ascertain his real position. Frequently the 
mere statement of his position will reveal to him 
its weakness, and open the way for you to show 
him the better course. 

When you have decided what a person's 
attitude toward Christ is, then you are in a 
position to help him, and not till then. For 
convenience we may divide a human being 
into four parts : the intellect or reasoning fac- 
ulty; the heart or emotional nature; the con- 



122 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

science, which is always God's ally; and the 
will. 

As a rule three-fourths of a man's nature is on 
God's side already. Reason tells him that it is 
wise to be a Christian; conscience tells him that 
he ought to be one ; and down deep in his heart 
he really wishes that he was a Christian. The 
only thing that hinders is his stubborn will, 
which does not like to give up its own way and 
submit to God's rule. 

In such cases we can often ally reason, con- 
science, and the emotions against the will, just as 
a general who captures the enemy's outworks 
turns their batteries upon the main stronghold, 
and storms it with their own guns. As a rule 
the main appeal must be made to the conscience — 
" You ought to accept Christ, and you know 
you ought. You ought to do it for your own 
good, for the sake of your influence, for the 
sake of your friends who love you, but above all 
for the sake of Him who died for you on 
Calvary. With Him is life, and hope and peace ; 
without Him, loneliness, failure, and eternal sep- 
aration from God." 



How to Bring to Decision 123 

Use the word of God constantly, and stick to 
the same verses. One or two that fit the case 
are better than a dozen. 

1. Show him his need of salvation (Rom. 
3:10,23). 

2. Show him that his only hope is in Christ 
and His finished work (Acts 4:12; Isa. 
53:6). 

3. Show him that salvation in Christ is ob- 
tained by receiving Him into the heart and con- 
fessing Him before the world (John 1:12; 
Rom. 10: 9, 10). 

4. Show him that He who is able to save is 
also able to keep (Isa. 41 : 10; Jude 24). 

Never mind if one says that he does not 
believe the Bible. A man might question 
whether you held a sword in your hand because 
it seemed to be covered with a paper sheath, but 
one or two sharp thrusts would soon convince 
him that it was a real sword. Even so the 
sword of the Spirit can make a man wince with 
pain, and even wound him fatally, though he 
does not believe that it is the word of God. 
Remember that it is alive ** and powerful, and 



124 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

sharper than a two-edged sword/' and few 
people can resist it. 

Remember that the object of all your appeals 
is to persuade the man to surrender his will to 
God. If all other efforts fail, if you find that 
you are not making much progress, try to get 
the inquirer to his knees. A person can see 
many things on his knees that he cannot see 
standing. As soon as Nathanael began to talk 
with Jesus, the hght began to come, and he ex- 
claimed, " Rabbi, thou art the Son of God." 

Do not, however, ask the inquirer whether 
you may pray with him, for he might refuse ; 
but say to him, " Suppose we pray over the mat- 
ter," and drop at once to your knees. He may 
hesitate, for a sinner's knees are apt to be a little 
rusty from disuse, but as a rule he will not stand 
very long while you are on your knees. Then 
pour out your soul to God in his behalf. Many 
a one will break down under these circumstances 
who is very stubborn on his feet. The situation 
is so different, and he is more likely to realize 
that he is dealing with God instead of man. 

After you have prayed say to the inquirer, 



How to Bring to Decision 125 

'* Now you pray, confessing your sin, and asking 
God to forgive you for Jesus' sake/' It is well 
to quote I John i : 9 and Rev. 3 : 20 in order to 
show him that God is ready to grant his requests. 
If he is not accustomed to praying — and many 
are not — ask him to follow you, repeating the 
words after you, sentence by sentence. In this 
way you make sure that he will confess his sin, 
and invite Christ to come into his heart and take 
possession of his life. If he prays alone, he is 
likely to tell the Lord that he is sorry he has not 
done better, but that he hopes to do better the 
next time. 

When you rise from your knees, question him 
as to what he has done, and what Christ has 
done for him. If he replies that he does not 
know that Christ has done anything for him, ask 
him what He promises to do for those that con- 
fess their sins and invite Him into their heart. 
Do not leave him until he knows that he is saved, 
not because he feels happy, but because God's 
word assures him that he is saved. 

Make him promise to confess Christ to others ; 
and, if any people are present, ask him to tell 



126 11. Timothy 2 : 15 

them what he has done, and thus commit him so 
thoroughly to the cause of Christ that it will not 
be easy to go back. 

The Importance of Joining the Church 

In every war there are some soldiers that re- 
fuse to join the army. They prefer to fight inde- 
pendently. They are called guerrillas. But 
guerrilla warfare as a rule is inefifective, demoral- 
izing, and disreputable. It damages the very 
cause it tries to help. 

In like manner there are some people that 
claim to be Christians, but refuse to join the 
church. Like guerrillas, they unconsciously 
damage the very cause they ought to help. 
They cannot give a single good reason for their 
position, but there are many reasons why every 
Christian should join the church. 

I. There one can render the most effective 
service. The church-member is one of many, 
who are all working under one commander and 
for the same end, and collectively can accomplish 
what could not be done separately. If it is a 
good thing to have churches in a community, 



How to Bring to Decision 127 

then Christians should support them. If all 
Christians were guerrillas, Jesus Christ would 
not have a church on the face of the earth, or 
even a single acknowledged follower. 

Remove the churches from a town, and prop- 
erty would depreciate, business would decline, and 
all good people would move away. Sunday 
would become a holiday ; life and property 
would be unsafe ; and the town would soon have 
so bad a reputation that no decent person would 
move into it. For this reason every Christian 
owes it to himself and his family, to society 
and to his God, to join and support some church. 

2. It is the only consistent position for a 
Christian, In the church his influence will help 
and not hinder ; for an outsider, who ought to 
be in the church, damages the cause of Christ 
just as much as an insider that ought to be out. 
A Christian that refuses to join the church 
practically says to the world that the commands 
of Jesus are not binding or important, which is 
not true. The Master distinctly commands His 
disciples, saying, " Believe and be baptized," and, 
" Do this in remembrance of me," referring to 



128 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. What right 
have we to disobey these commands ? Further- 
more He says, " Ye are my friends, if ye do what- 
soever I command you," and ** Why call ye me 
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? " 

These plain passages show that Jesus does 
not reckon as His friends those that disobey 
His commands, and does not wish to have them 
call Him Lord unless they do the things which 
He says. Besides, the world refuses to count 
one as a Christian unless he joins the church. 
In the matter of loyalty to Christ there is no 
neutral ground. We are either for Him or 
against Him. We either count or discount. 

3. A Christian that does not join the church 
will soon lose his joy ^ and perhaps his hope. If, 
knowing his Master's wish, he refuses to comply 
with it, he cannot be a happy person. He may 
be a saved man, but he will lose the joy of his 
salvation. His words will have no weight with 
others, because he has not come out from the 
world himself. Furthermore, he is in danger of 
losing all interest in the matter of salvation, be- 
cause the habit of disobeying those commands 



How to Bring to Decision 129 

that are irksome to him will soon lead him to 
disregard all Christ's commands, and drop back 
into the Christless life entirely. 

4. To be a member of Chrisfs church is the 
highest honor this world affords. Its sacraments 
are the most sacred, its literature the most sub- 
lime, and its fellowship the most sweet and en- 
during. All lodges and other organizations are 
man-made affairs ; but the church is a divine in- 
stitution, founded by Jesus Christ, guided and 
guarded by the Holy Spirit, having for its 
mission the evangelization of the world, and for 
its destiny eternal fellowship with God in heaven. 

5. If it be objected that there are some hypo- 
crites in the churchy the answer is, " Yes, it may 
be true ; but Jesus Christ is no hypocrite, and 
He is the life of every church." If half the 
members of the church were hypocrites, we 
should still join the church, because it is our 
Master's wish and prayer. ** Father, I will that 
they also whom thou hast given me be with me 
where I am, that they may behold my glory." 

6. The Christian that refuses to join the 
church dishonors Jesus Christ. He is willing 



V 



130 II. Timothy 2 : 15 

that Christ should die for him, but he is not will- 
ing to live for Christ, or even to acknowledge his 
relation to Him. He desires to be saved, but he 
is not wiUing to serve. He wants the benefits of 
Christianity without the sacrifices, whereas the 
sacrifices constitute nme-tenths of the benefits. 

The meanness of it is well illustrated by the 
following story : Dr. Lorimer once asked a man 
why he did not join the church. The reply was 
that the dying thief did not join the church, and 
he was saved. 

** Well," said the Doctor, " if you do not be- 
long to a church, you help support missions, of 
course ? " 

" No," said the man. " The dying thief did 
not help missions ; and he was saved, was he 
not?" 

" Yes," said the Doctor, ** I suppose he was ; 
but you must remember that he was a dying 
thief, whereas you are a living one." 

Do not deprive your Saviour of the honor 
that belongs to Him. 

** Wherefore come out from among them, and 
be ye separate, saith the Lord " (2 Cor. 6: 17). 



» 



How to Bring to Decision 131 

" Whosoever therefore shaU confess me before 
men, him will I confess also before my Father 
which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny 
me before men, him will I also deny before my 
Father which is in heaven '' (Matt. 10 : 32, 33). 



I 



132 II. Timothy 2:15 



Questions 

In leading a soul to decision what is the main 
question ? 

How can one separate it from side issues ? 

Which is the wiser course, to crowd our views 
upon another, or to draw out his views, and 
suggest possible improvements ? 

What should be avoided ? 

Into what four parts may man be divided ? 

Which of these are usually on God's side ? 

Which needs to be persuaded ? 

To which must the main appeal be made ? 

What reasons can you give why a person 
should be a Christian ? 

Which is the strongest of all ? 

Is it wise to use many or few verses of 
Scripture ? 

What advantage is gained by a constant repeti- 
tion of the same verse ? 

Describe briefly on paper how you would lead a 
soul to decision. 

Would you use the Bible with one that does not 
believe in it ? 



i 



I 



How to Bring to Decision 133 

If all appeals fail, what other resource is left ? 

What is the advantage of having the inquirer 
follow you in prayer, sentence by sentence ? 

What reasons can you give why a Christian 
should join the church ? 



Prayer for the Quiet Hour 

BY 

REV. FLOYD W. TOMKINS. S.T.D.. LLD. 



THIS Is one of the choicest books of religious meditation 
and spiritual uplift that have ever been written. It 
will stand as a devotional classic. 

Dr. Tomkins is rector of the great Episcopal Church in 
Philadelphia which numbers among its former rectors the 
famous Phillips Brooks. He Is a man of intense and widely 
manifested energy, of the broadest sympathies, of high ora- 
torical power, and of the loftiest spiritual insight and the most 
intense spiritual fervor. He is greatly beloved in Philadelphia, 
and all over the country, especially among Christian Endeavor- 
ers; he has been for many years a trustee of the United Society 
of Christian Endeavor. 

All that have heard Dr. Tomkins conduct the Quiet Hour 
periods at our conventions know how profoundly inspiring 
this volume Is. His prayers breathe the very spirit of quiet 
communion with the Father. They are thoughtful, warm, 
ardent, peaceful. They are the talks of friend with Friend. 
No one can read them without an enrichment of life. 

The prayers are very brief. Some of them — many, 
Indeed — are only two or three sentences long. But each of 
them has meaning enough and helpfulness enough for many 
pages. 

For convenience In use the prayers are grouped topically. 
There are prayers of aspiration, confessions of sin and weak- 
ness, prayers of consecration, prayers for strength, for faith, 
for peace, for grace, for happiness, prayers regarding the Bible, 
prayers for church and public worship, prayers for home, 
prayers for our country, prayers for missions, and prayers for 
special occasions, such as New Year's Day, Christmas, Good 
Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving, a birthday. 

The book has 222 pages, and Is very attractively bound in 
dark green cloth with a gold stamp. It Is sent, postpaid, for 
^i.oo, by 

The United Society of Christian Endeavor 
600 Tremont Temple :: :: Boston, Mass. 



Vv hy Vv e Believe the Bible 

By AMOS R. WELLS 



THIS book IS different from all the books on Christian evi- 
dences that have preceded it in its adoption of the brisk 
question-and-answer form. This renders it especially easy 
and pleasing to read, and at the same time facilitates its use 
as a text-book by young people's societies, Sunday-school 
classes, and other organizations. 

The book covers in its eighteen chapters the principal 
lines of evidence for the authenticity of the Bible and for the 
leading Christian doctrines. It tells how the Bible came 
down to us, gives the proofs of the Bible from secular writers, 
from archaeology, from its effect upon the world, from internal 
evidences, and from the fulfilment of prophecy. One chapter 
discusses the contrast between the Bible and the sacred 
writings of other religions. There are chapters giving the 
reasons for the belief in miracles, the incarnation and virgin 
birth, the atonement, the Trinity, the resurrection, and the 
traditional authorship of the four Gospels. The book closes 
with chapters on the evidence of Paul, of the martyrs and 
the early Church, and of modern missions, together with a 
convincing statement of reasons why every believer should 
join the Church. 

Full advantage is taken of recent discoveries. The book 
is conceived and written in the modern spirit, by an up-to- 
date editor, a former public-school teacher and college pro- 
fessor. This is his forty-ninth volume. The book will be 
of the greatest service to ministers, evangelists, Sunday- 
school teachers, parents, and all that meet the questions of 
doubters and inquirers, or have the training of the young, or 
wish to establish their own faith on a firm foundation. It is a 
most attractive book typographically, and is well bound in 
red cloth; 167 pages. Sent, postpaid, for $1.00, by 



The United Society of Christian Endeavor 
600 Tremont Temple :: :: Boston, Mass. 



NOV 21 19^0 



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